Kendra Stone Volume 2: Missing
by guardianM3
Summary: Carlos and Trent disappear while working on a case.  Kim, Butch and Kendra search for them wondering if their disappearance is linked to the case or is it something from their past?  Walker and the Rangers are called in to help search for their friends.
1. Chapter 1: Spilled Coffee

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 1: Spilled Coffee

Trent yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes. The stakeout had begun at four that afternoon and it was now two in the morning. Since he hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few days, the lack of sleep was starting to catch up to him.

"Hey. You know once you start to yawn, I'm going to start yawning." Carlos said, attempting to stifle a yawn but was unsuccessful.

Trent was stretching out his back and neck. "Sorry. Can't help it though. It's a natural and normal bodily function that no one can control."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," muttered Carlos taking a sip of lukewarm coffee from a black and silver thermos.

Trent grinned. His grin faded, his face tightening in thought. It was now mid-June and he recalled the events that had occurred almost a month-and-a-half ago.

Kendra Stone, a new waitress at the bar Uppercuts had been physically assaulted by a rowdy patron, while his buddies roared with laughter, but she had handled herself by stepping on the man's foot and had spoken quietly in his ear; it wasn't until later that night that he found out what she had said to the leader. She had told the leader and his buddies to pay the check and get out of the bar, with a few insults mixed in; they followed her instructions and left.

Then, after the bar closed and she had headed home, she was attacked by the four patrons in a blind alley. She was doing pretty well until one of them hit her on the head with some object and even though she regained semi-consciousness, she was unable to defend herself. He and Carlos, thankfully, had left their office of Thunder Investigations, located just above the bar, and had arrived just in time to take down the patrons. She had allowed an EMT to check her out, but she had blatantly refused to be taken to the hospital and then he had taken Kendra home, while Carlos went to the police station.

The rowdy patrons were released less than an hour later, thanks to a high-priced, well-connected lawyer, but one of the patrons was murdered a few hours after being released. Of course, he, Kendra, and Carlos were considered suspects, and when two other patrons were killed, the killer had planted evidence that connected him to one killing and Carlos to another. The evidence planted for the third murder was enough to arrest Carlos. The arrest caused Kendra to seek out the fourth and last patron, since she had hired Thunder Investigations to find the killer and because she felt guilty for having gotten them involved. He arrived at the house to prove his best friend's innocence and they worked together to bring the killer in.

Trent was shaken out of his thoughts and memories when Carlos spoke. "Yeah. Hey, this could be our guy." He said, pulling out the camera. He used the camera to zoom in, taking several pictures of a sandy-blonde haired man. He was tall and skinny and he wore a brown leather jacket with a simple t-shirt and blue jeans, but Carlos could see that he had a gun holstered at his belt.

They watched as the armed man motioned to a truck across the street that was parked opposite of Carlos and Trent's location. Without turning on the truck's headlights, since there was enough illumination from the street lamps, albeit it was still dark since some of the light bulbs needed to be changed, the driver drove carefully and as quietly as possible to the loading dock.

"Miller isn't going to like what we tell him." Carlos said.

Trent nodded his head in agreement. Julian Miller had hired the two PIs to find out who was stealing merchandise from his warehouses. Somehow, the thieves always managed to disable the security cameras and had somehow got around the security guards, either buying them off or hitting the warehouse when the only guard was on break. Trent and Carlos had discovered that one of the security guards was in on the robberies.

Carlos snapped pictures, of the truck, getting a decent shot of the license plate and of all the men involved in the robbery.

"We should follow that truck and find out where they take the merchandise." Trent suggested and Carlos, since he was busy taking pictures, didn't nod his head, but Trent knew he agreed.

* * *

Kendra, a five-foot-seven, dark haired, light blue-eyed beauty, wearing blue jeans and a simple tee shirt, was running down the street, her destination the bar, Uppercuts, for a morning shift. She was only four blocks away as her feet pounded on the sidewalk.

She didn't see the man until it was too late, she ran right into him, causing his cup of hot coffee to splash onto him, soaking his dark gray suit, silk shirt and tie. The handsome blond-haired, green-eyed man yelped at the fact that the coffee had hit his suit and because, of course, it had burned him.

"I'm so sorry." Kendra apologized sincerely. "I would give you some money now for the dry cleaning bill, but I don't have any on me at the moment."

The man looked at her skeptically.

"Look, just come to Uppercuts, I'm a waitress there and I'll give you money there tonight. Okay? Later." Kendra waved as she turned, and continued running in the direction she had been heading toward before she bumped into the young man.

"Right." He mumbled underneath his breath. He rubbed a hand through his hair and looked down at the brown coffee stains that were being absorbed by the edges of his coat and his silk shirt underneath, not to mention a few splashes on his crisp, jade-colored tie that matched his eyes.

He walked to his car, got in and drove off, still muttering underneath his breath about crazy women. Beautiful, but crazy.

* * *

"Hey, Butch," Kendra greeted her boss who was, as always, behind the bar.

"Morning. Filling in for Becky, right?" He asked, but already knew the answer.

"Yup." Kendra replied as she grabbed her apron that was hanging from a peg and placed it over her head, tying it as she walked back to the front of the bar. She pulled out her pen and pad from one of the front pockets of the apron.

"Oh, yeah. If a blonde haired guy with green eyes comes in and mentions something to you about one of your waitresses having to pay a dry cleaning bill just send him to me." Kendra said.

"Really? What did you do?" Butch asked with an amused grin on his face.

Kendra shot him a look. "I didn't _do_ anything. It was an accident. I was in a rush to get here and I ran into this guy, and kind of, caused him to spill his coffee on the nice suit he was wearing."

"Uh-huh." Butch replied.

"I told him to come later tonight. After I do this shift, I'll run home and get some money." Kendra greeted a customer that came in the door. "Ah, look a customer. Gotta go." She walked briskly to the customer that was headed toward her section.

"Hey, Butch." Kim greeted with a bright smile as she sat down at the bar and ordered a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Kim. Where are the boys?" He set the steaming cup of coffee before her.

A frown came to Kim's lips. "Trent left a message, saying that they would be late into the office today. I guess they were out late on a stakeout."

"Again?" He asked as he used a wet towel to wipe the few drops of coffee off the bar that had splashed from Kim's cup.

After taking a sip of coffee, being careful not to burn her tongue or spill any more coffee, she nodded her head. "Yeah. They have been doing stakeouts all week. So, that means they haven't been getting enough sleep."

"Trent and Carlos have not getting enough sleep because of their job? How… irregular." Kendra commented jokingly as she came to the bar to grab the coffee pot.

"Not funny." Kim said.

"I haven't had any coffee yet. You know I can't crack a decent joke without two cups of coffee." Kendra said grinning. Kim returned the grin, knowing what Kendra said was a half-truth.

Butch shook his head as Kendra gave him a wink. "It wasn't a good idea that you allow all of us servers to get free coffee. With all that I drink, I'm practically running you out of business."

"That's why I've decided that you can have free beer instead of coffee." Butch replied, his eyes twinkling.

"Really? Imported and domestic? Thanks, Butch." Kendra grinned.

Now, it was Kim's turn to shake her head, and went back to drinking her coffee, while Kendra was called by one of her customers and Butch made another pot of coffee.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of volume 2. If you haven't read volume one entitled "Kendra Stone Meets the Sons of Thunder: Volume 1". I suggest you do so. I did give a quick run through of volume 1 (even though some of you have already read it and you may consider my overview tedious) but its better if you just read it. Then, there is another story that is sort of a prequel under the TV show "Walker Texas Ranger" which is entitled "Introducing Kendra Stone". I suggest you read that also since Walker and his Rangers are going to appear in this volume and then you'll know how they met Kendra. Please review so I can improve my writing and the story.


	2. Chapter 2: Hunter

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 2: Hunter

The man, who had run into the "crazy woman", had driven to the parking lot outside of the courthouse. When he entered the courthouse, and headed toward the office area, he was greeted by the pretty, red-haired receptionist. "Good morning, Hunter." Her eyes widened when she saw the large and rather noticeable coffee stain. "What happened to you?"

"Morning, Stacey. A woman ran into me, so my morning cup of coffee is now my suit's worst nightmare." He said with a half-smile and she could only nod because she had to answer the ringing phone on her desk. Hunter turned and went down a hallway and headed to his office.

Hunter had tried to wipe off the coffee but the damage had already been done, so he was deciding which suit to wear, since he kept a couple of spare ones in his office.

"What happened to you?" asked a kind, yet strong female voice.

Hunter looked up and saw the blond-haired, blue-eyed Assistant D.A. "Morning, Alex. Some girl ran into me and since I had a nice, steaming cup of coffee in my hand, it went flying at me. She didn't get a drop on her." He added almost as an afterthought.

A small smile came to the pretty Assistant D.A.'s lips. "Was she pretty?"

Hunter gave her a look. "That doesn't matter."

Alex combated the look with a dazzling smile. "Did she at least apologize?"

"Yeah. She said she was going to pay for the dry cleaning bill. I have to go to where she works tonight." He explained, as he grabbed the navy blue suit, with a slate gray tie instead of the black suit that had a dark green tie.

"Really? So, you're going on a date. You just met this woman." Alex teased.

Hunter shook his head. "No. No, it's not a date. She's just going to pay my dry cleaning bill. That's all."

"Uh-huh. She must have been very pretty." Alex grinned.

"I'll meet you in twenty minutes." Hunter said as he escorted Alex out the door.

"Alright. I'll see you. Don't forget the Diego file." Alex said as Hunter nodded and shut the door. Alex smiled as she headed to her office to pick up a few files before the trial began.

* * *

Kim had returned to the office do some research for the two PIs a couple of hours earlier. Butch was making his rounds, speaking to the regulars and introducing himself to the new customers, while Kendra, stood behind the bar to take in any orders from the other waitress or if one of her customers waved her down, she would go to them and write down their order or bring the hot pot of coffee over if she knew that is what they wanted.

A blond-haired boy, about sixteen or seventeen came in and sat down at the bar. "Aren't you a little too young to be in a bar?" Kendra asked the boy with a straight face.

"This is a bar and grill and my brother is a friend of Butch's." He replied.

Her eyes roamed his face and focused in on his blue eyes. "You're a Malloy, aren't you." It was more of a statement than a question. She sighed and clicked her tongue. "Just what I need, another Malloy in the bar bugging me about his order."

Butch returned to the bar, having left a table of two regulars roaring in laughter. "Kendra Stone, meet Tommy Malloy." Butch introduced them.

"Pleasure to meet ya, Tommy." She said with a kind and warm smile as she held out her hand.

Tommy took her hand gingerly but gave a firm shake. "Nice to meet you, Kendra." He said politely.

Kendra noticed that he was a little nervous and her smile became even warmer to try and make him feel comfortable. "Excuse me, I have to go and check on Bob and Alice. They probably want some more soda." She left the bar and headed over to the nice-looking couple who were in their late fifties and were obviously regulars.

Carlos and Trent entered the bar and they each took a bar stool on either side of Tommy. They had noticed the exchange between Tommy and Kendra before they had entered the bar.

"She didn't scare you, did she?" Carlos asked jokingly as he gave Tommy's arm a light punch.

"Uh…no. She didn't scare me." Tommy replied uncertainly as Carlos and Trent both chuckled.

"Carlos, now why would Tommy here be scared of me?" Kendra asked as returning to the bar with two glasses to refill with root beer.

"Well, Kendra, seeing as you tend to regularly scare customers out of the bar, that Tommy might be a tad anxious to be around you." He said with a straight face but his eyes were filled with laughter.

Kendra gave Carlos a wicked smile, but there was humor reflecting in her eyes. "I only scare away the customers who are either rude or get on my nerves, Carlos."

"So, Tommy, why are you here?" Trent asked, changing the subject.

"Mom was wondering where you were, since you didn't come home last night." Tommy answered as he took a sip of the root beer that Butch had given him while Carlos and Kendra were talking.

"Oh. It was too late to call and say that I slept on Carlos' couch." Trent said, taking a sip of coffee that Butch had just placed in front of him, since the bartender had taken note of the dark circles under the younger man's eyes.

"You still live with your mother?" Kendra teased.

"Hey, he gets homemade meals. It beats having takeout or TV dinners." Carlos said.

"I was just teasing Carlos." Kendra said.

"I know. But, it's true; his mom's cooking is delicious." He said taking a sip from his mug of coffee.

"How often do you eat at the Malloy house?" Kendra asked with a grin on her face.

"Whenever I can." He remarked with his charming grin.

"Which is just about every other day." Tommy clarified and ducked as Carlos' arm came to playfully smack him on the head.

"Boys." Kendra said, shaking her head, as she grabbed a customer's check.

All of them just grinned as she walked away heading toward her waiting customer.

* * *

Alex and Hunter had arrived in the courtroom promptly and after a couple hours of going through expert testimony, it was time to speak with the only witness.

Hunter got up from his prosecutor's chair and stood before the witness stand where a twenty-year old woman with black hair and eyes sat looking a little nervous.

"Ms. Strand, please tell us what happened on the third of April of this year."

"I was working in the office." She said and then paused for several minutes.

"And from the office you saw Mr. Diego selling drugs and then as he assaulted the man with a deadly weapon?" Hunter prompted.

"Objection! He's leading the witness, your Honor." The defense lawyer, Mike Thompson said standing up from his chair. He was in his late forties and was very thin with thinning hair on top of his pointy-head.

"Sustained. Please allow the young lady to speak for herself, Mr. Prescott." Judge Reynolds said firmly.

Hunter nodded his head, wanting to roll his eyes because of the prickly lawyer but he restrained himself and noticed something in the witness's eyes and his instinct told him to try a different tactic. "Ms. Strand, have you ever seen Mr. Diego before the third of April of this year?"

Ms. Strand shifted in the chair and shook her head. "Please say yes or no, Ms. Strand." Judge Reynolds asked.

"I…uh…" As Ms. Stand stumbled over her words, Hunter could tell that she was wringing her hands behind the wall that consisted of the witness box.

"Yes, I've seen him before. It was mid-February and I was working late in the office, doing some filing for Mrs. Walton when I heard something outside the office. I went to look out the window, the one that faces into the alley, since we are on the second floor and I saw that man," she pointed to Mr. Diego, "shoot someone in the head. It was on the news, his name was Billy Pillar."

"Why didn't you tell the police?" Hunter asked.

"I was so frightened and I was right to do so, he threatened to kill me if I testified against him today." Ms. Strand answered, gathering strength from somewhere deep within herself that she didn't even realize she had.

"Your Honor! My client…" Mr. Thompson started, but the story that Ms. Strand had just given had already done its damage.

"Take Mr. Diego into custody. The court is adjourned until the police investigate this matter and the prosecution can get everything in order. Also, this court will allow time for the defense to look over the information that the prosecution will provide to them. Bailiff, please take Mr. Diego back to his cell." Judge Reynolds pounded his gravel and made it official.

Hunter turned slightly to look at Alex who gave him a smile as the bailiff was heading to the defense table to retrieve Diego. "I'll kill you, Prescott!" Diego screeched as he jumped over the defense table toward Hunter.

Hunter jumped to the side; just barely avoiding a punch from Diego, except Diego was a lot quicker than Hunter realized when the man's other fist came and collided with Hunter's right eye. Hunter's head snapped back and he stumbled backwards toward the judge's desk but he was able to grab onto the desk with his hand and steady himself before he crashed into it.

"Get him out of here!" Judge Reynolds bellowed and the bailiff, with help from a couple of officers that had happened to be in the courtroom, rushed to obey. They grabbed Diego before he could throw another punch. The bailer was able to handcuff the man who was like a wild beast and with the assistance of the police officers, took him away.

Alex ran to Hunter, who just gave her a wave, signaling he was all right. "Are you alright, son?" asked Judge Reynolds.

"Yes, sir. I'm alright." Hunter said, as he took a deep breath.

"Are you going to press charges?" The judge asked.

"Yes, sir." He replied firmly and with determination.

Hunter and Alex left the courtroom and headed back to their respective offices, to call the police about the murder that Diego had committed and to start building a murder case against him.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I hope the courtroom scene was believable if I've made any blatant errors, please let me know. I know there hasn't been any adventure/action yet but there will be soon. Reviews are always welcome.


	3. Chapter 3: Uppercuts

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 3: Uppercuts

Hunter was in his office going through his messages and returning several phone calls. He returned a call that was from a college buddy wondering whether he was going to go to a mutual friend's bachelor party. Another call he returned was to the lead detective of Billy Pillar's murder who had called to congratulate him for finding a witness who had busted the case wide open. The rest of the calls were to gather more information about Diego and his associates. He had just finished a phone call and returned the phone to its cradle when Alex knocked on his open door to alert him of her presence.

"How are you feeling?" She asked with concern etched onto the fine features of her face and that was reflected in her blue eyes as she sat down in a plush chair that was situated in front of his oak desk.

"I'm fine. I've got a headache, which I'm not sure if it is from John Diego's fist or from his lawyer, but I took some Tylenol to relieve the ache." He answered with a charming grin to reassure her.

Alex nodded her head. "So, did you speak to the lead detective on Pillar's murder?"

Hunter nodded his head. "Yeah, Detective Standish, he wanted everything we have on Diego so he can start working on the connection between him and Pillar."

"Good." Alex said.

Then they discussed the charges the DA's office would bring against Diego to ensure that he stays in prison for a long time. They tossed around preliminary ideas on how they would present the case to the jury and what Thompson would try and pull to get his client a lesser sentence.

"I'll leave you to your work so you'll have time to meet with the young lady tonight." Alex said as she stood up. "Have a good evening, Hunter." She said her eyes twinkling and with a knowing smile on her face.

"You have a good evening yourself, counselor." Hunter replied and went to work on the many piles of paperwork on his desk.

* * *

Carlos and Trent had left to catch up on some much-needed sleep and Tommy had gone home a little after the boys had left. After Kendra's shift, she headed home to grab some money so she could pay the man that she had run into earlier that day. She returned within twenty minutes and sat at the bar, conversing with Butch until the man came into the bar at about 9 P.M.

"Hello, stranger." The man said, as he sat down on a bar stool next to Kendra.

Butch gave him a look and Kendra gave Butch a smile. "Hey. What happened to you?" She asked with a concerned frown, having noticed his black eye.

"Oh just a little fight, it's nothing to worry about. I thought we were here to discuss a transaction?" He said with a smile and Kendra was annoyed about the brush-off, even though she didn't know the man, she sensed he was a decent person and didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

"How much?" She asked, as she pulled her wallet out from her pocket.

"My father always said 'if you're going to do business with someone, you have to know that person's name'. I'm Hunter Prescott." He introduced himself and held out his hand to Kendra.

"I'm Kendra Stone." She took his hand and they shook.

"Hey, are you related to a Lyle Prescott?" asked Butch.

"Yeah. He's my uncle." Hunter answered. "You know him?"

Butch grinned. "Yeah. He's a friend."

"That you owe a favor to." Kendra reminded him. Butch nodded his head as Kendra grinned.

Hunter didn't understand why that had amused Kendra, but understood that it must have been an inside joke. "Uppercuts, that's an interesting name for a bar." Hunter commented.

"It's a good name for a bar." Butch said as he started to hand-dry some glasses with the towel that he had earlier placed over his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's called Uppercuts because Butch used to be a boxer. Plus he was once a PI. Now, he's the owner of this bar and is the bartender. Who knows what else he has been? Or will be?" Kendra added.

Butch just handed her a black cup of coffee. "Would you like anything, Hunter?"

"I'll have a beer." Hunter ordered. As he waited for Butch to fill a glass with beer, he took the opportunity to observe the woman next to him. _She is very pretty,_ he thought as he studied her face. Her light blue eyes were bright with humor and her smile was heartwarming but with a hint of mischievousness. Hunter could sense strength flowing from her and a feeling of stubbornness. He was able to detect a profound sadness behind her eyes but it quickly vanished from sight.

"Right. Now, that we've introduced ourselves, how much?" Kendra asked, getting right back to business.

"Thirty." Hunter answered, taking a sip of his beer.

Butch whistled. "That's quite a bit."

"Well. The dry cleaning place does an excellent job of removing stains, especially coffee stains from suits." He explained as he took the money that Kendra offered, placing it into his black leather wallet and returned it to his pocket.

"Well, if they are that good, they deserve the money." Kendra remarked.

"Now, you owe me a cup of coffee." The words had come out of Hunter's mouth before he had even realized it.

"Well, you can have one on me." Kendra nodded to Butch to get him a cup.

"No, I mean, you owe me the same type of coffee that I had this morning." He explained, shaking his head at Butch's offer of a cup.

"So, you want a cup of coffee from the same place that you had gotten it this morning?" Kendra asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. Since you're going to be there anyway, why don't you join me?" Hunter asked with a smile on his lips.

Kendra hesitated for a moment. "Okay. But this is not a date." She said firmly.

"It's a date then." Hunter said with a smile as Kendra glared at him.

"Young-ins." Butch said sighing and shaking his head and going to the other end of the bar, while Hunter and Kendra couldn't help but laugh at his jest.

* * *

Since the boys hadn't had the time to do some of their own research on the Miller case, Kim had offered to do the work for them so they could get some much-needed sleep because of the late night stakeouts. Kim was sitting at her desk in the office surfing the web and the many databases that only licensed PIs had access to, taking sips from her energy drink and munching on some snack food, being careful not to get any crumbs on the keyboard.

The two PIs had followed the thieves with the stolen merchandise from Miller's warehouse and ended up at a warehouse that was located in a town just outside of Dallas. Trent and Carlos had watched and photographed the thieves as they unloaded the merchandise off of the truck. The thieves would then sell the merchandise on the black market.

Kim had searched for the owner of the thieves' warehouse, which she had discovered, was under the name of a bogus corporation. She had been trying for the last couple hours to find out who really owned the warehouse, but she wasn't having any luck, so she searching the databases for information on the thieves or the truck.

One of the databases she was searching on beeped at her, signaling that one of the searches had discovered something. Kim left her game of Spider Solitaire and opened the page of the database. Reading the information on the computer screen, her lips became a tense line and then she reread the page her instincts screaming at her that something wasn't right.

Tomorrow morning, once Trent and Carlos came into the office, she was going to tell them exactly what she had discovered and see what they thought about what she had discovered.

* * *

guardianM3: Thank you guys for the reviews. Reviews are always welcome! The updating for this story might be more spread out than the last two because even though I have most of it planned out there are still many details that I need to iron out.


	4. Chapter 4: Coffee Date

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 4: Coffee Date

Kendra arrived at the Coffee Bean Café about fifteen minutes early so she sat down at one of the tables, where she had a good view of the door, and ordered a mocha latte and a plain bagel with cream cheese from the waitress who had hot pink spiky-hair. The waitress promptly returned with her order and went quickly to take an order from four customers that had just sat down.

Hunter come into the café with five minutes to spare, saw Kendra, walked up to her table and sat down across from her. He was wearing jeans and a blue shirt, with sneakers.

"Making sure I don't stain another suit?" Kendra asked teasingly then finished off the rest of her coffee.

"I have today off." He looked at the cup in her hand and the partially eaten bagel. "I see you decided to start without me." He said, pretending to sound hurt.

"This is just the prologue where there are many, many more chapters to come." Kendra said, pointing to the empty cup.

"That was an interesting analogy." Hunter commented, just as the waitress came over to take his order. When the waitress had left, he leaned forward as though he was going to share a secret. "Should we do the normal small-talk or get right down to the more detailed talk?"

"Detailed." Kendra replied. "I don't think you want me to get bored."

He gave her a dashing smile and they talked, joked, and laughed for about twenty minutes.

All of a sudden, the sound of breaking glass could be heard over the noise in the cafe. Hunter dove underneath the table dragging Kendra along with him. Hunter looked over his shoulder toward the origin of the breaking glass, noticed the small round hole with web-like cracks surrounding it and realized that the hole had been caused by a bullet.

Some people in the café had no idea what had happened while a few others had dropped to the ground and had ducked underneath their tables. The owner of the café, a woman in her fifties, called the police.

"Are you alright?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah. I think so. Uh… maybe not." Kendra replied.

Hunter looked at her and saw that there was blood running down her arm. "You need to go to the hospital."

"It's just a flesh wound." Kendra argued.

"You're going to the hospital." He said firmly. Kendra looked into his green eyes and knew there was no point in trying to argue with him.

* * *

Trent and Carlos walked into the office at Thunder Investigations at the same time and greeted Kim with large smiles. Their smiles faded when they saw the look on Kim's face.

"What's wrong, Kim?" Trent asked with concern in his voice.

"It's about Miller. I was doing research last night and I found something…odd." Kim said hesitantly.

"What is it Kim?" An anxious Carlos asked

"Miller used to live in Los Angeles and he owned several warehouses there." Kim said quickly.

"So?" Carlos remarked.

Kim shot Carlos a look and then continued, more calmly and a little slower. "There was merchandise stolen from those warehouses too. One of those warehouses burned to the ground and about a month after Miller had collected the insurance money he moved here to Dallas. Doesn't that seem strange to you guys?"

"Yes, it is very strange." Trent commented stroking his chin.

"What do you want to do, Trent?" Carlos asked.

"It seems we are going to have to investigate our client." Trent said quietly.

"That means we are not going to be paid for this one." Carlos commented.

Trent brushed that comment away with a wave of his hand. "Kim, I want you to find out all you can about Miller. Carlos and I are going to go speak with him and tell him what we discovered. Of course, we'll leave out that we know about his warehouses in LA."

"What if he notices something about how you guys act around him?" Kim asked, with a worried voice.

"We're professionals, Kim, so you don't need to worry about us. Besides, you know we can handle ourselves." Carlos said with a smile, trying to reassure her.

Kim didn't feel reassured and was being to feel even more uneasy. "All right, but you two had better be careful. This Miller guy may decide to do something worse than scamming the insurance company."

"We'll keep an eye on him." Trent replied. "Now, let's get to work."

They went to work, Kim searching for more information on Miller, while Trent and Carlos put together a file for Miller. As they worked, the two PIs discussed what they would say to Miller. Kim's feeling of unease did not abate throughout the day, and increased as the guys left to speak with their client.

* * *

After Kendra had been taken to St. Matthews Hospital and had been thoroughly checked out by a doctor, Hunter had offered to take her home, but she refused and when he wouldn't quit, she told him to drop her off at Uppercuts.

When Hunter returned to his office, he found Alex waiting for him just outside his door. Hunter had predicted that Alex would have somehow found out that about the incident and it was most likely from the officers that had arrived on the scene or some other connection.

"Are you all right? Did you see the shooter?" Alex asked with concern as she followed him into his office and sat down before his desk while he walked went to sit down in his chair, placing his face in his hands and sighed.

He removed his hands from his face, placed his elbows on top of the files on his desk, placed his palms together and interlocked his fingers. "I'm fine. The girl I was with, she got hit." Hunter answered the question that was on Alex's mind. "She'll be fine. The bullet only grazed her."

Alex sighed thankfully and looked intently at Hunter. "Do you think Diego placed a hit out on you?" Alex asked.

"I have no idea." His green eyes darkened as his mouth and jaw tightened into a fierce determination. "But I'm going to find out."

* * *

Kendra entered Uppercuts and sat down at the bar since she was a little over twenty minutes early for her shift. Once Butch had given the waitress the customers' order of five beers, two large baskets of fries and five hamburgers, he came to stand in front of her.

"Enjoy your date?" Butch asked with a sly smile.

"Yeah. He's a nice guy. You spoke with Lyle, didn't you?" Kendra asked, her eyes becoming slightly narrower.

"He just wanted to catch up." Butch replied.

"Uh-huh. Right." Kendra said, not believing him, glad that Lyle hadn't mentioned that she and Hunter had been shot at, but the moment passed when Butch noticed that their was a slight bulge underneath the sleeve of her long sleeve shirt.

"What happened?" Butch asked, with concern at the edge of his voice.

"Nothing important." She said but Butch gave her a look that meant that he wasn't going to drop the subject. "All right. Hunter and I were at the café and a bullet came through the window and it grazed me."

"You got shot and you don't consider it important?" Butch asked with anger and concern rolled into one in his voice.

Kendra shrugged her shoulders. "It was only a minor flesh wound."

Butch gave an exasperated sigh and looked right into her eyes. "Do you know who shot at you?"

"No." Kendra replied and because Butch gave her a look, she continued. "The shooter could have been aiming at anyone in the café. There were about two dozen people in there, not including the people who work there, which was probably about two to four."

"Maybe someone was shooting at Hunter." Butch suggested.

"Yeah. That's a possibility." Kendra said biting her lower lip as concern came to her face. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and stood up. "Well, I guess it's time for me to go to work."

"You sure you can work today?" Butch asked.

"Of course." Kendra replied and went to grab an apron.

"Okay. But if your arm starts to bother you…" Butch cautioned.

"I'll be fine." Kendra said firmly and then headed toward a new arrival. Butch sighed and wiped the bar with a towel, mumbling underneath his breath about the stubborn woman.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to all of the reviewers. Please review and let me know how I'm doing.


	5. Chapter 5: Missing

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 5: Missing

Hunter was heading to his office when someone called his name. He turned around and saw a man in blue jeans, a black cowboy hat, and a red, cotton shirt with a star pinned onto it. The man had a reddish brown hair and a beard of the same color.

"Good morning, Walker." Hunter greeted the Texas Ranger, who was the leader of Company B.

"Good morning, Hunter. I need to speak with you." Walker said.

Hunter knew exactly what Walker wanted to speak with him about. He nodded his head and followed Walker into Company B's office. He greeted Rangers Gage, Sydney Cooke and Jimmy Trivette who were all seated at their respective desks and they all returned his greeting. Hunter leaned against Gage's desk and waited for Walker to begin.

Walker took of his hat and placed it on Trivette's computer. Trivette frowned and glared at the hat, as though the hat would move at of its own accord. Walker didn't seem to notice as he faced Hunter. "You may need to be placed in a safe house." Walker said firmly looking intently into the younger man's eyes.

"Walker, I am not going to run away and hide, that's exactly what they are expecting. I'm going to have Diego and his associates sent to prison where they will be locked behind bars for a long time." Hunter said firmly.

"Alex said that a lady friend of yours got hit. Aren't you worried about her?" Trivette asked, having taken his eyes off of Walker's troublesome hat.

"She'll be alright. I'll make sure she's safe." Hunter said.

"Diego's associates may go after her to get to you." Walker warned.

"You're right. I'll go see her and let her know." Hunter stood up and was about to leave when Walker stopped him by grabbing onto his arm.

"Take Gage with you." Walker said as an order, not a suggestion.

Hunter sighed. "Alright. I know there is no use trying to dissuade you from giving me a bodyguard."

"Hey, buddy, don't worry. You won't even know I'm there." Gage said as he stood up from behind his desk, walked over to Hunter and slapped him on the back.

"Make sure Gage doesn't get distracted from his job." Sydney said teasingly.

"Sydney, I'm hurt." Gage replied in a false heartbroken voice grabbing his heart as though it were going to break or fall out.

"Funny, Gage." Sydney remarked and rolled her eyes.

"You two should go warn that girl." Walker said.

"We'll go see her right now." Hunter said, a little too quickly.

Gage raised his eyebrows. "You really want to see this girl again, don't you?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "You've been listening to Alex, haven't you." He said as a statement and not a question. Then he looked at Walker and gave him a sheepish grin.

"Actually, Sydney told me. You know how those two love to gossip, especially when it comes to relationships." Gage remarked with a grin and ducked as a small writing pad flew through the air that had been aimed at his head.

"Let's go before Sydney tackles you." Hunter joked as he headed toward the door with Gage right behind him.

* * *

A distraught Kim came running into the bar and saw Butch behind the bar as he always was and Kendra sitting on a barstool. "Have you guys seen Trent and Carlos?" Kim asked out of breath.

"No, I haven't seen them." Kendra answered, with a worried frown.

"Same here." Butch agreed, his face becoming grim as he saw the concern and worry on Kim's face.

"Have you called around? Have you asked Tommy?" Kendra asked.

Kim nodded her head to both of Kendra's questions. "I've called their cell phones about a hundred times, but they both just go straight to voice mail. I've called the Malloy house and I've called Carlos' family. Neither have seen nor heard from them since yesterday." Kim started to wring her hands in worry.

"When was the last time you heard from them?" Kendra asked calmly.

"I saw them yesterday and they were working in the office until three that afternoon, then they went to speak with Mr. Miller, our newest client. He hired the guys to determine who was stealing from his warehouses and they did. But I was doing a search and found that he, Miller, owned a warehouse in LA and the same thing happened out there. And when one of his warehouses burned down, he collected the money and moved right to Dallas." Kim said quickly, filling them in.

"They didn't call you after that?" Kendra asked.

"Trent called at about five last night and said not to worry, but they were going on a stakeout again and I probably wouldn't hear from them until this morning." Tears filled her eyes as she continued. "Trent and Carlos would answer their cell phones, especially when I call, so something must have happened to them." Kim replied, taking the cup of coffee Butch had offered her, her hands were shaking and coffee splashed onto a bar stool and the floor, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Okay." Kendra said, standing up and placed her hand on Kim's shoulder. "I'll go check out Carlos' apartment but I don't think I'll find anything, but I'll check. Just in case. I'll call you when I'm done and if I don't find anything then I want you to check their phone records. Find out who called them last and whom they called last; not just their cell phones but also their home phones. I'm going to need Miller's address and I'll go speak with him."

"I'm going with you." Butch declared.

"Butch…" Kendra began, but Butch held up his hand to silence her protest.

"Don't argue with me Kendra. The boys are missing and we don't want you to go missing too. Let me make a phone call, and I'll have someone watch over the bar. It will be only 10 minutes." He added, having noticed Kendra's look.

Kendra and Butch had to wait only five minutes as a petite blonde woman in her forties entered the bar and gave Butch a warm smile. Butch quickly introduced the three females to each other and then followed an anxious Kendra out the door.

They took Kendra's car and headed to Carlos' apartment. When they got there, they knocked on the door and waited a few minutes for a response. When no one answered the door, Butch unlocked the door with a key that Carlos had given him in case of an emergency. They checked the apartment out thoroughly and there were no signs of forced entry or of a scuffle. When they had finished looking, Butch locked the door and they headed to meet with Miller.

It was about a twenty-minute drive from Carlos' apartment to Miller's office because of traffic. The office was located in a high-priced office building that was four stories. They practically jumped out of the car and rushed to the fourth floor where they located Miller's office easily enough. The office door had Miller Enterprises printed in block letters. They went in and stood before the assistant's desk.

"We're here to see Mr. Miller. Tell him we're friends of Trent and Carlos." Butch said politely and smiled at the petite brunette who was wearing a very expensive silk blouse.

_He certainly has enough money and pays his employee well._ Kendra thought as the young woman picked up the phone and spoke with Miller.

"Yes, sir. I'll send them right in." The assistant hung up the phone and smiled at Kendra and Butch. "He'll see you now." She gestured to Miller's office door.

"Thank you." Butch said, as he and Kendra headed to the office. Butch knocked but didn't wait for a response as he opened the door. He and Kendra walked in, Butch sat down but Kendra remained standing, her eyes were fierce.

"Good morning. How may I be of service to you?" Miller said with a smile.

"Where are Trent and Carlos?" Kendra asked fiercely.

Miller's smile faded. "I do not know where they are. I saw them yesterday for about half an hour and I haven't seen nor heard from them since." He said tartly as he rose from his chair and glared at the abrasive Kendra. "Now, I'm going to ask you two to leave."

Before Kendra could do or say something, Butch spoke. "I'm sorry, Mr. Miller. Kendra's just a little frantic because our friends are missing." He said with a smile. "I was wondering if they had said anything to you about where they were going or did they happen to mention if they were going to go see someone?"

"No. Now, please leave." Miller said anger flashing in his dark eyes.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Miller. We'll get out of your hair." Butch rose, grabbed Kendra's arm, and led her out the door. He said good-bye to the assistant and headed to Kendra's car.

"Butch, let go." Kendra ordered and Butch let go of her arm.

"That would have gone smoothly if you hadn't lost your head in there. We would have picked up more information." Butch said harshly.

"Right, like he was going to tell us if he had Trent and Carlos." Kendra snapped.

"Of course not, but if you had remained calm, we would have picked up something from his words, his expressions, or in his body language." Butch explained.

Kendra sighed. "I'm sorry, Butch. It's just…the guys…"

Butch's face became somber and his voice softened. "I know you're worried. I am too. I wanted to punch that arrogant, self-centered man, but we have to cautious."

"What now?" Kendra asked disgusted with herself for what she had done and for sounding defeated.

"We head back to the bar, get a drink and talk about what we are going to do to find our friends." Butch declared with determination.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please keep reading and reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6: Connections

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 6: Connections

Hunter gave Gage directions to Uppercuts right before they had left Ranger Headquarters, since the Ranger had never been to the bar before and didn't have any idea where the bar was located. While Gage drove, Hunter placed a few calls to try and determine if some of his contacts had heard about a hit being placed out on him. After Hunter had finished with his calls, they rode the rest of the way in silence. When they reached their destination, Gage parked and they both got out of the car. Gage followed Hunter into the bar, keeping an eye out for an attacker.

Hunter walked up to the bar and smiled at the blond, older woman. "Hello, ma'am. Is Kendra in today?"

Gage had been scanning the half a dozen customers that were sitting at the tables and was just taking in the scenery of the bar and when he heard the name Kendra, he turned to focus on Hunter and his conversation.

"No, I'm sorry she's not here right now." The woman replied.

"Do you know where she is? I'm a friend. My name is Hunter Prescott." He said with some urgency in his voice.

"You're Hunter?" A voice said from a few barstools down where Hunter stood.

Hunter looked to the brown-haired girl who was in her mid twenties. "Yes, I'm Hunter. Do you know where Kendra is?"

"She went with Butch to speak with someone." Kim replied.

Hunter then noticed the worry on Kim's face and the tears in her eyes. "Are you all right?" He asked his voice becoming softer with concern.

"Trent and Carlos are missing." Kim blurted out and when Hunter's face showed that he had no idea who they were so Kim took a deep breath and explained. She told him that Trent and Carlos were private investigators, that she is the office manager of their office and that the two guys are friends with Butch and Kendra. She told them that the two investigators had gone missing and that Kendra and Butch had gone to speak with the man who had probably seen them last.

"Let me make a phone call and we'll bring in some help." Hunter said as he walked off to the side of the bar and pulled out his cell phone.

Gage walked up to Kim. "Hi, I'm Gage. I'm a friend of Hunter's." He said as he held out his hand.

"I'm Kim." She replied as she held out her hand and they shook.

Hunter returned to the bar. "Friends of mine are on the way to help you find Trent and Carlos." Hunter declared.

Kim nodded her head. "I hope we'll find them soon." She said and then looked at Hunter. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Hunter replied and then they all sat down to wait for their respective friends to arrive.

* * *

Walker and Jimmy arrived at Uppercuts within fifteen minutes and went straight to the bar where Kim, Hunter and Gage were all sitting, drinking mugs of hot coffee.

"Walker? Thank goodness you're here!" Kim exclaimed as she jumped off the barstool, went running up to the Ranger, and gave him a hug.

"Hello, Kim." Walker greeted and when she pulled away, a worried frown came onto his face as he saw the fear and worry in Kim's eyes.

"Hunter said that Trent and Carlos are missing. Have you heard anything?" Jimmy asked and Kim shook her head.

"Wait, you two know Trent and Carlos?" Hunter asked.

"I've known Trent since he was a kid and Trivette met him a few years ago. We both met Carlos when he was a member of the Dallas P.D." Walker explained. "Where is Butch?" He asked Kim.

"He'll be here in a few minutes." She replied.

"We'll wait until he gets back. Then we'll all work together to find Trent and Carlos and bring them home." Walker said with strong determination and faith.

* * *

True to Kim's word, Butch came within a few minutes, but the Rangers didn't realize that Kendra Stone would be with the bartender.

Butch entered the bar first and saw Walker sitting at the bar with Hunter and Kim, plus a couple of other people he didn't recognize. "Hey, Walker. I guess you heard about Trent and Carlos." Butch said.

"Yes. My entire team is willing to help find them." Walker replied.

"Hey guys. You all know Trent and Carlos?" Kendra asked coming into the bar and standing next to Butch.

"Kendra Stone? Hunter had mentioned someone named Kendra, but I didn't think it was you. What are you doing here?" Gage asked.

Kendra cocked an eyebrow. "I work here and I'm friends with Trent and Carlos. Kim you called the Rangers?" She asked directing her attention to the younger woman.

"No, Hunter did." Kim replied.

"How do you know Walker and Trivette?" Kendra asked Hunter.

"Uh, I work with Walker's wife, Alex." Hunter replied.

"You work at the DA's office? All you told me is that you were a lawyer!" Kendra said infuriated with the lawyer.

"Wait a minute. How do you know Walker and Trivette?" Hunter asked Kendra.

"Well, that's kinda a long story." Kendra said scratching the back of her head almost awkwardly.

"She got into some trouble with a thug named The Coyote and ran into Walker and Alex at their home. She was a witness to the Coyote's drug production, not to forget that he tried to have her killed but because of her, we were finally able to arrest him." Trivette answered.

"Okay, maybe it's not too long of a story." Kendra remarked.

"Look, we are all here to help find Trent and Carlos." Trivette said trying to get Hunter and Kendra back onto the reason they were all there.

"Right. Wait a minute, you two know the guys?" Kendra asked and shook her head. "Never mind, Trivette's right, we're all here to find the guys and we'll draw a diagram to figure out the connections between everyone later. Now, what's the plan to find Trent and Carlos?" Kendra asked.

"We need to know what Trent and Carlos were working on and that includes the client's name and why the client hired them. We waited for you two to return to the bar before any information was shared and since you two probably have something to add anyway. Kim, why don't you start and then we'll go on from there." Hunter suggested.

Kim told Hunter and the Rangers all she knew about the case and their client Miller, including what she had discovered about the man. Then, Kendra and Butch told them about the meeting with Miller that had been a bust. Kendra also mentioned that it was odd that someone who owned a few warehouses would have an office in an expensive office building.

Once they had all finished, Walker spoke. "Trivette and Kim will see if anyone that Carlos and Trent have put away in prison have been released in the last six months. Gage, you're going to remain with Hunter. Butch and Kendra are going to speak to Butch's contacts and see if they know anything. Sydney is going to find out all she can about Miller. She's one of our Rangers." Walker explained to Butch and Kim because neither of them had ever met Sydney.

"What are you going to do, Walker?" Hunter asked.

"I'm going to go speak to Miller myself and see if I can't persuade him to give me any information on Trent and Carlos."

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know there wasn't any action or adventure, so I hope it wasn't boring for any of you. Chapter 7 probably won't be up for several days. Thanks for the reviews!


	7. Chapter 7: Seeking Information

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

guardianM3: I'm sorry it has taken so long to update. I've been busy and I was away from my computer for a while. To make up for the time, I've decided to give you guys' two chapters. I hope you all enjoy them.

* * *

Chapter 7: Seeking Information

Once Kim had parked her car in the parking garage of Ranger Headquarters, her and Jimmy got out of the car and headed into Company B's office. When they walked through the door, they saw Sydney at her desk. She was working on finding out any new information about Miller and any of his associates.

"Hey, Sydney. This is Kim Sutter. Kim, this is Ranger Sydney Cooke." Jimmy introduced the two women as they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Sutter." Sydney said as they finished shaking hands.

"You too, Ranger Cooke." Kim replied with a slight bob of her head.

"You can call me Sydney." She told Kim with a kind smile.

"Ok and you can call me Kim." She replied, returning Sydney's smile. Sydney agreed with a nod of her head.

Satisfied, Jimmy rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Okay, Kim. Let's get to work. You can work at Gage's desk." Jimmy pointed to a desk that had three large piles of folders, an assortment of pens and pads that were cluttered around a computer.

Kim nodded and went to sit down at the desk. She dropped her shoulder bag onto the floor, since there was no room on the desk and pulled out the case files so she could reference the names and have them go through the police databases. Jimmy came over and punched in the passwords, so Kim could access the databases without having to hack them.

Jimmy and Kim worked on their computers for over two hours but there hadn't been anyone released from prison in the past year that Trent and Carlos had put away. Kim, her stomach ready for a snack, searched in her bag for a candy bar but instead of the chocolate treat, she found several photographs that had been hiding at the bottom of her bag. Kim almost slapped herself for forgetting about the pictures.

"Hey, Jimmy. Where is your scanner?" Kim asked as she waved the photographs in the air.

"It's right here on my desk. Why?" Jimmy asked his eyes never leaving the computer monitor.

Kim got up, walked over to Jimmy's desk, and placed the photos on the keyboard in front of him. "Carlos and Trent took these pictures of the thieves that were stealing from one of Miller's warehouses. We can scan the pictures into the computer and see if any of these guys is somehow connected to Trent and Carlos' disappearance." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I totally forgot that I had them."

"All right, don't worry about it. Here, I'll scan them right now." Jimmy said as he picked up the photos and began scanning them into his computer.

* * *

Gage and Hunter left the bar and since Walker hadn't given either of them an assignment to help find the two missing PIs, Hunter decided to find out who had fired the shot that had grazed Kendra.

"So, when did you meet Kendra?" Hunter asked Gage about five minutes after they had left the bar.

"We all met her in April. What Trivette told you is true but he didn't mention the fact that she tends to get into trouble or I guess I should say that she tends to cause it." Gage replied with a grin.

"Really? I didn't know that." Hunter replied with a slight grin of amusement.

Gage shrugged his shoulders. "Look, I barely know Kendra, maybe a little more than you do, but not by much. She's tough and she is a bit rash in certain circumstances, but she is a good person. So, if you two are going out, have fun." Gage said with a smirk.

"Thanks, Gage. I appreciate it." Hunter replied shaking his head. They rode the rest of the way in silence, each in their own thoughts about the women in their lives.

"Here we are." Gage declared as he drove up to the gate.

Hunter looked at the slate gray prison that had a tall metal fence that surrounded the perimeter with its sharp barbed wire on top that would tear through clothing to the soft skin underneath. Four towers were in each corner of the prison that housed two guards each. The prison was bare and depressing, just like every prison that Hunter and Gage had ever been to for various reasons, but mostly they had gone to a prison to question someone.

Gage pulled up to the security booth and showed the guard his badge while Hunter showed him his ID. The guard waved them through and they left the security checkpoint, drove into the parking lot, and parked the car. They got out of the car and headed into the prison.

Once they had gone through all of the security checks inside of the building and had placed any items that could be used as a weapon with a guard, they were led to a room that had a table with four plastic chairs. Hunter sat down at the table while Gage stood behind him with his arms crossed over his chest. A few minutes later, a guard brought a man, wearing an orange jumpsuit, into the room.

"Well, well, if it isn't the counselor who helped put me here." The man said as he sat down placing his handcuffed hands on the table.

"I have some questions for you, Diego." Hunter said firmly.

"Really? All you seem to have are questions, counselor." Diego replied with a glare.

"I've always had an inquisitive mind." Hunter interlocked his fingers and stared intently at Diego. "Now, who did you hire to kill me?"

Diego leaned back in his chair. "You really believe I can hire someone to kill you from in here?"

"Don't play games with me Diego. A friend of mine got hurt." Hunter said his tone becoming fiercer.

Diego leaned forward and looked into Hunter's eyes. "It was a girl, wasn't it?" He noticed the flash through the counselor's eyes. "Ha! Can I call it or what?" When Hunter didn't reply, he continued. "Well, whoever she is, I hope she wasn't too badly injured." The cruel smile on Diego's lips wasn't needed because of the insincerity in his voice.

Instead of leaping across the table and placing his hands firmly around the man's throat as he imagined himself doing, Hunter stood up and walked toward the door. He turned around and looked at Diego with dark green eyes. "I hope you've decide to cancel your plans of trying to have me killed, Diego."

Diego's right eyebrow rose. "Is there a threat implied in there, counselor?"

"No, Diego, there isn't a threat. There is a vow that you will never have privacy again." Hunter remarked as he turned and banged on the door to let the guard know he was ready to go. When the door opened, he left the room with Gage right behind him.

* * *

"This guy is definitely the leader of this bunch." Jimmy remarked as he printed off the rap sheet.

"Who is he?" Kim asked taking a sip from a soda that she had gotten from an ancient vending machine out in the hall.

"His name is Kenny Slade. His career is being a criminal since he started in his early teens. He has been charged with breaking and entering, armed robbery and practically anything that has to deal with being a thief."

"Why isn't he in jail where he belongs?" She asked skimming over Slade's rap sheet that Jimmy had handed to her.

"Not enough evidence or he had an alibi. He probably had some slick lawyer that got him off." Jimmy said as he stood up and stretched.

"Hey, guys, I didn't find any new information on Miller." Sydney said as she walked up to Jimmy's desk. "What did you guys find out?"

"The guys had taken some pictures from one of their stakeouts and Jimmy got a hit. A man named Kenny Slade with a rather long rap sheet."

Sydney's eyebrows rose slightly. "Not surprising. I've heard a few stories about him. He tends to get away with his crimes because he has some connections."

"Why does it seem that these guys are always connected?" Jimmy said as he printed off the rap sheets for Slade's buddies.

"Remember, criminals are not the only ones with connections." Sydney said. "And, sometimes it helps us when we can get information out of those criminals who have connections to bring in even worse thugs."

"Right, like whoever Butch and Kendra has gone to speak to I'm certain that he is a thug, but a thug with connections that can give us the information we need to find Carlos and Trent." Kim pointed out.

"Okay. That's true." Jimmy said as he scanned through the printed rap sheets of Slade's fellow thieves. "But sometimes it hinders our investigation or they tend to get off because of those connections."

Sydney and Kim nodded their heads in agreement. "We should probably get to work on finding out more about this Kenny Slade." Sydney said as she scanned the rap sheet.

"All right. We should also find out more about his buddies and see if there is some connection to Trent or Carlos." Kim added.

"Okay, Ladies, let's get to it." Jimmy said as he divided the names up between the three of them and they went back to work on their computers.

* * *

"That was a waste of time." Hunter said as he and Gage headed toward the car.

"No, it wasn't. You had to find out whether he was the one or not." Gage pointed out.

Hunter opened the passenger door and looked over the roof of the car at Gage. "Yeah, except I allowed him to get to me, but I knew he wasn't going to admit to doing anything. I still believe he set it up."

"He probably did, but the only way we can get any proof is to find the person who shot at you and get him to give up Diego." Gage said as he looked at the prison and then back at Hunter. "But that doesn't mean that Diego isn't going to stop sending people after you."

"Yeah." Hunter said quietly as he got into the car and put on his seatbelt.

Gage got in the car, started the engine and headed to Ranger Headquarters. "Well we can see what everyone else found out about those two PIs."

Hunter just nodded his head absentmindedly because he was working through a plan in his mind.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thank you all for the reviews. Please continue to review.


	8. Chapter 8: Miller and Butch's Contact

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 8: Miller, Again and Butch's Contact

Kendra once again drove her car with Butch sitting next to her deep in thought. "So, who are we going to see?" Kendra asked as she darted around other vehicles.

"We are going to go speak with One Eyed Jackie." Butch answered.

"Interesting name." Kendra commented dryly as she made a sharp left turn that caused Butch to slam into the passenger door. "Sorry about that."

"Huh." Butch remarked about Kendra's driving. "He knows who is going to throw a fight and who is in debt because of their gambling. He knows who is running from the law and where they are hiding out."

"So, he's the man to see when you need to know what the criminals are up to." Kendra said as she zipped through a light that was yellow and was about a millisecond from turning red.

"Yup. Pretty much." Butch replied holding onto the dash to keep him from hitting the door again.

"Here we are." Kendra said as she parked the car.

"Thank the God of Boxing." Butch muttered under his breath.

They had parked before a bar called Lucifer's Right Hand. The wooden planks were vertical instead of horizontal. The boards were mix of a faded brown and black from the years of sun and wind exposure. The few windows in the front of the building were dirty and grimy and one of the panes of glass had a long curved crack in it.

They got out of the car and headed into a bar. From the rundown appearance on the exterior of the bar, Kendra had expected the inside to be about the same or even worse, but the bar was clean and well maintained. The long bar against the back wall was made from sturdy oak, but the booths, tables and chairs were all metal with black cushions.

"Not what you were expecting, huh?" Butch said and Kendra shook her head. "They leave the outside like that to keep unwanted people away."

"Makes sense." Kendra said and followed Butch as he headed toward a dark booth in one of the back corners.

"Butch McMann, what are _you_ doing here?" A man with a patch over his right eye asked and he smiled when he saw Kendra. "Hello there, pretty girl. Please don't tell me that you are with Butch."

Kendra restrained herself from coming back with a remark and just remained silent.

"Not a talker, huh? I like that." Jackie replied as he looked at Kendra from head to toe.

"I need some information, Jackie; it's about a couple of friends of mine." Butch said.

"Well, Butch, I seem to recall that the favor I already owed you was used up awhile ago by that blond haired friend of yours. I told him to tell you that we were squared. He did tell you that, right?"

"Yeah, he did. But now I'm asking you a favor and I will owe you one." Butch said as he sat down across from Jackie.

"Really? You owe me a favor?" Jackie said as he stroked his chin. "All right, Butch, what do you need?"

"A couple of friends of mine have gone missing. Their names are Trent Malloy and Carlos Sandoval; they are the two PIs that own Thunder Investigations. They were working on a case for Dennis Miller. Have you heard anything, Jackie?" Butch asked.

Jackie rubbed his chin that had a five o'clock shadow. "I don't believe that I've heard anything about the two PIs going missing. I have heard about Miller's warehouses being ransacked, but that's about it. If I hear anything, Butch, I'll let you know." He said as he shrugged.

"Are you sure you haven't heard anything?" Kendra asked almost pleadingly.

"Now, listen, honey, what's your name?" Jackie asked as he looked at her features, again.

"My name is Kendra Stone". She said firmly.

"Well, pretty Kendra, I hear a lot of things, but I can honestly say I haven't heard a peep about those two PIs." Jackie said holding his hands, palm up and outward in an apologetic way and then he brought them together in the air and dropped them down onto the table.

"Have you heard anything interesting about Miller? Or about the people who have been stealing from Miller's warehouses?" Butch asked with some hope in his voice.

"Well, now, I've heard that Miller isn't exactly on the up and up. He likes to get money for nothing, if you know what I mean." Jackie said with a wide grin that was almost like the Joker's unnatural grin.

"Yeah, he likes to collect the insurance from what the thieves have stolen and he when his warehouse burned down back in L.A. he took the money and came here to Dallas. We already know about all of that." Kendra said with impatience.

"Yes. Now, the question is, why would Miller hire two PIs to find out who is stealing from him when he already knows who the thieves are?" Jackie replied tapping his forefinger on his head.

"Son of a…" Butch muttered underneath his breath. "Why didn't we see it before?"

"Let's go." Kendra said and turned to go.

As Butch stood up, Jackie spoke. "Don't forget, Butch, you now owe me a favor. Come again, pretty Kendra. Anytime."

Kendra turned around and gave Jackie a look that would cause a charging bull to stop in his tracks and head in the other direction. "Right."

"Thanks, Jackie." Butch said. He and Kendra left the bar quickly, headed back to Uppercuts.

Jackie watched them leave and then he whistled for a waiter and ordered a double shot of whiskey.

* * *

Walker walked into the fancy Italian restaurant and ignored the look of disdain the host had given him because of Walker's black jeans and simple cotton red shirt, but when the haughty host saw the Texas Ranger star, he gave Walker a smile with a silent message not to cause a scene.

"Where is Julian Miller?" Walker asked, scanning the customers out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm sorry, sir but…" the host began but Walker had just spotted the man he had come to speak with and walked away from the snooty host.

Walker walked up to the table where Miller sat with a blond woman who was about twenty-two and looked as though she was a model since she was about six feet tall with long, shapely legs, a narrow waist and a heart shaped face that photographers loved to take pictures of. "Excuse me, miss, but I need to speak with Mr. Miller here." Walker said politely as he took off his hat and held it to his chest.

The young woman looked at Walker from head to toe and smiled. She obviously liked his rough, cowboy look and she did like the fact that he was a Texas Ranger since she had seen the star. "Sure thing, I've got to go powder my nose anyway. I'll be back in a few, sweetie." She said to Miller as she rose on three-inch heels and strode away clutching a purse that matched her short dress that showed off her figure.

Walker sat down across from Miller and looked intently into the man's angry eyes. "What do you know about Trent Malloy and Carlos Sandoval's disappearance?"

"I don't know anything and how dare you come in here and disturb my date." He retorted angrily but in a low voice to not cause any unwanted attention from nearby tables.

"What do you know?" Walker repeated and continued his stare.

Miller tried to hide the fact that he was uncomfortable about Walker's piercing gaze but he was unsuccessful as he shifted around in his seat. "Look, I hired them to find out who was stealing from my warehouses and they gave me that information the other day and then they left my office. That is the last time I saw or heard from them."

"All right, I believe you." Walker stated and Miller almost gave a sigh of relief but he held it in. "But, I know that you know something about their disappearance." Walker said but with just a look, he told Miller that he wasn't going to leave the man alone until Miller told him what he wanted to know.

"Kenny Slade. Kenny Slade has something to do with their disappearance. Now, look, that's all I know. Okay? Can you leave now?" Miller said pleadingly.

Walker didn't believe that was all the man knew, but it was a start. Walker stood up, placing his black cowboy hat back onto his head just as Miller's date returned. "Have a nice day, miss." Walker said as he tipped his hat.

"You too, Ranger." She said giving Walker a dazzling smile with a lusty wink.

"Let me know if you hear or find out anything else, Mr. Miller." Walker said before he walked away.

The young woman sat down. "My, my, is that what all Texas Rangers are like?" She asked as she fanned herself with her delicate and manicured hand.

Miller growled and when his waiter came to the table, he ordered a martini.

* * *

Once Kendra and Butch had stepped through the door at Uppercuts, Tommy jumped off the bar stool and stood right before them. "Did you guys find out anything about Trent and Carlos?" He asked optimistically

Kendra shook her head as Butch placed a hand on Tommy's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "No, kiddo, I'm sorry."

Disappointment and worry shone in Tommy's eyes. "We haven't heard from anyone else yet." Kendra said trying to give some hope to the young man.

"I want to help find them." Tommy declared with a look that said that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Kendra and Butch glanced at each other. "Tommy, Walker and his team, Kim, Kendra and I are searching for them."

"But…I want to help… I need to help find my brother and Carlos." Tommy pleaded with them.

"You know what you can do? You can alert the neighborhood and see if they have heard or seen anything that may give us some leads to finding Trent and Carlos." Kendra suggested.

"All right, I'll get right to it and I'll tell Reverend Jones who'll help get the word out to the congregation." Tommy said quickly and with determination. "I have to go tell my mother the news." Tommy said quietly.

"Hey, Tommy, tell your mother that there are friends who care about Trent and Carlos and are doing all they can to find them and bring them back safe and sound." Butch said as he patted his young friend on the back.

"All right, Butch, I'll tell her that and I'll spread the word to the whole neighborhood about Trent and Carlos." Tommy said and then he left the bar.

"Poor kid." Butch said shaking his head and sighing.

"Yeah, but it's good that he's going to let the neighborhood know about the guys disappearing. Someone may have seen or heard something that may help us find the guys." Kendra said as she sat down at the bar.

Butch sat next to her and ordered two whiskeys. "After this we should head to Ranger Headquarters and see what the others have found out."

"Yeah. I didn't even think that they would be there and not here. It always feels like Uppercuts is the meeting place. I guess that is just for us, huh?"

"Yeah." He said with a small grin as he drowned his whiskey.

"I sensed something was wrong the night the guys disappeared but I couldn't tell who or what the feeling was about. Ugh." Kendra said as she placed her face in her hands in frustration and guilt.

"There is no way you could have known that Trent and Carlos were going to disappear. Unless, of course, you are a psychic or something like that and you hadn't mentioned it." Butch said as he gave her a quizzical look.

"I'm not psychic, but I try to pay attention to my instincts." Kendra said as she removed her face from her hands as she leaned back and sighed.

"They will be all right. They're strong and they have been in some tough scrapes before." Butch said as he tried to reassure her and himself.

"Yeah." Kendra said but not with much enthusiasm. She leaned forward, drank her whiskey, and then slammed the shot glass down onto the bar. "Let's go."

* * *

guardianM3: I don't know what bar One Eyed Jackie usually hangs out in, I read the transcript for the first episode but it never said the name of the bar, so I made one up. I try to use places mentioned in either of the shows but sometimes you just gotta make some up. If some of those names that I've made up exist, than the disclaimer applies also, the Joker from the Batman series, movies, comic books, etc is owned by DC Comics and the disclaimer applies. I also have no idea if One Eyed Jackie wears an eye patch or not. I also don't know which eye is good or bad. If you know, please put it in a review and I'll make the correction. Thank you.


	9. Chapter 9: Ranger HQ

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 9: Ranger HQ

Kendra and Butch arrived in the parking garage at Ranger Headquarters just as Gage and Hunter had just stepped out of Gage's car. Kendra honked her horn to get their attention and took the spot right next to Gage's car.

Butch and Kendra got out of the car. "Hey, guys." Kendra greeted the two men as she closed the door.

"Hey, did you guys find out anything about your friends?" Gage asked leaning against his car.

"Not really. One Eyed Jackie did point out something that we had completely missed." Kendra replied as she stood next to Hunter.

Hunter raised his left eyebrow. "One Eyed Jackie?"

Kendra gave Hunter a sly smile. "Yeah, he actually has one eye."

Butch coughed to get their attention. "Well, Kendra, you should just wait to tell them what Jackie said once we get inside and meet with everyone so we won't have to repeat ourselves." Butch suggested before Hunter and Kendra could begin to banter back and forth. Kendra nodded her head and they all headed into the building.

"Hey, what have you guys found out?" Kendra asked being the first one to enter Company B's office.

"Hello. We didn't find too much, but it's a start." Jimmy replied from his desk. "What about you guys?"

"Well, Butch and I spoke with one of his contacts and he told us that Miller is most likely not a victim and may be working with the thieves. Jackie made an interesting point about why would Miller hire the guys to find out who was stealing from his warehouses when he already knew?" Kendra said as she leaned against Sydney's desk.

"That _is_ in an interesting point. I can't believe I didn't think of it especially when you and Butch said about Miller earlier." Kim scolded herself.

"What have you guys got?" Walker said as he came into the office.

Jimmy smiled. "Kim and I found out the name of the head thief that has been stealing from Miller's warehouses."

"Kenny Slade." Walker said as he went to stand next to Jimmy's desk.

"Yeah, that's him." Jimmy said and wasn't surprised that Walker had already gotten the name. "Anyway, we are still running a search for anyone connected with him. And before you arrived, Kendra made a good point about why Miller would hire Trent and Carlos if he already knew who was stealing from his warehouses?"

"Actually, it was Butch's contact that said that." Kendra clarified.

"All right, anything else?" Walker asked.

Jimmy continued to fill in the rest of them in about the information that he, Kim and Sydney had found out.

* * *

Alex came into Company B's office. "Hello, everyone." She said and then she looked more closely at the people in the room and her eyes locked on one person. "Kendra? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Alex. What Walker didn't tell you that I'm friends with Trent and Carlos?" Kendra said with a slight grin.

Alex frowned and shot Walker a look. "No, he didn't mention you at all but the only information that he had given me was that Trent and Carlos were missing."

Walker shrugged but didn't say a word as he continued to read the information about Miller and the thieves that Jimmy, Kim and Sydney had found.

Alex sighed, shook her head as a glimmer of amusement came to her lips and then changed to a serious look. "Hunter, can I speak with you in my office, please?"

"All right. Gage you can stay here. I won't be gone long." Hunter said and when Gage nodded his head, Hunter followed Alex out the door.

"We are still trying to find out who tried to kill you." Alex said once they had arrived at her office and she had sat down in her chair.

"That's not good enough. Kendra could have been killed." Hunter sighed as he leaned against the door. "We just have to find whoever shot at me and get him to tell us who wants me dead."

"It may not be Diego who wants you dead. He threatened to kill you and plenty of people saw him attack you in court. It's quite possible that someone got the idea that if you were killed, people would look for a connection to Diego and not even bother to look for any other suspects." Alex pointed out.

"Great. That's a long list." Hunter said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yes, it is. So, you have to be careful and patient until we can track down who wants you dead." Alex said.

"All right, Alex, I'll be careful. I'll see you later." Hunter said as he walked away not even waiting for a goodbye.

Alex stared at the opened door and furrowed her brows in concern. She didn't know if Hunter was going to be careful or not, but she remembered that Gage was protecting him so she shook her head and went to make some calls.

* * *

"Hey, we finally got a hit." Jimmy exclaimed looking at his computer monitor. "Kenny Slade's real name is Kenny Blade, and he has an older brother named Toby Blade who is in prison."

"What is the connection between Toby Blade and the guys?" Kim asked.

"Trent and Carlos worked together to bring Toby Blade in. Toby would steal weapons and then he would sell them on the black market." Jimmy explained.

"So, Miller got Kenny Slade a.k.a. Kenny Blade to steal from his warehouses and in return, Kenny has Miller hire Trent and Carlos, so he could get revenge for his brother who is still in prison." Sydney said making the connection.

"That makes sense." Kim said as she returned to the area in front of Jimmy's desk from Gage's desk. "Kenny Slade used to live out in L.A." As she said it, she waved a piece of paper in the air that she had just printed off the computer and then placed it on Jimmy's desk.

"So, they must have met in L.A. and when they decided to come here, Slade must have found out that Trent and Carlos were PIs and decided to trap them." Butch said as he rubbed his chin.

Kim nodded her head. "And it's most likely that Slade burned down the warehouse back in LA so Miller could collect the insurance. All he had to do is make it look like an accident which he probably knows how to do because he's been smart enough not to be thrown into jail like his older brother."

"Okay. Trivette, Kim and Sydney, I want you guys to search for properties owned under the names of Toby Blade, Kenney Slade, Kenny Blade and Julian Miller."

"Okay." The three of them said in unison and went back to their computers.

"I'll go get some sandwiches and drinks for everyone." Butch offered as he stood up.

"That would be great, Butch. Thanks." Walker said.

Butch left and the information gathers went to work. Gage went to go find Hunter who hadn't returned from his meeting with Alex. Kendra had asked Sydney where the restroom was before Walker had given out the assignments and no one had noticed that she had gone, except Sydney of course, but she hadn't returned to the office.

* * *

guardianM3: I made up the thing about Trent and Carlos bringing down a man named Toby Blade who stole weapons and then sold them on the black market. It was never an episode with Trent and Carlos in it, unless there was an episode on WTR about it that I don't know about and if there is, I apologize for my ignorance.


	10. Chapter 10: Troublemakers

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 10: Troublemakers

When Hunter had left Alex's office, he hadn't gone back to Company B's office, he actually left the building in his car and had headed off to speak with an old acquaintance. He drove about ten miles over the speed limit and when he reached his destination, he was thankful that he hadn't been stopped by a cop.

He got out of the car and looked at the sign that read 'Rage Roadhouse.' It was a biker bar that had a bad reputation and for good reason. The chairs and tables in the place had been broken so many times that none of the original furniture exists anymore and no one is sure what the chairs and tables had been. The floor was so dirty from spit, dust, dirt, peanut shells, spilled beer and other things that had been dropped onto it that no one was sure if the floor was wood or dirt. The bar that ran along the back of the room was the only thing in the place that gets washed, once in awhile, besides the beer mugs.

He could remember the first time that he had ever been in there. A couple of bikers hadn't liked the look of him and he had soon become the wrecking ball for the tables and the chairs. Luckily his friend Andy arrived before the bikers could make him part of the stains on the floor.

No one messed with Andy, since he was several inches over six feet tall and he was a well-known street boxer in the cities of Dallas and Houston. Plus, Andy was a friendly guy and got along with just about everyone.

Hunter began to walk to the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around and put his fists up. He growled and dropped his fists when he saw who had touched him on the shoulder. "Kendra, what are you doing here?" Hunter asked with a growl.

Kendra gave Hunter a knowing smile. "Hi, Hunter. I guess you didn't hear me drive up or the fact that I followed you all the way from Ranger Headquarters."

"That doesn't answer my question." Hunter said a little frustrated.

"Uh, I thought I did. I followed you." Kendra gestured toward her car that was parked about twenty feet away from his car.

Hunter growled in frustration while Kendra continued to give him a sweet and innocent smile.

"So you just decided to follow me?"

"I went to the bathroom and when I came out I saw you leaving the building without your bodyguard and I decided that I had better make sure you were all right. Before I could even call out your name, you had jumped into your car and drove away. So I jumped in my car a followed you."

"Gage mentioned you were reckless." Hunter muttered but Kendra had heard every word.

Kendra didn't comment as she asked, "Why didn't you just let Gage come with you?"

"The person I came to speak with can spot a cop in a millisecond and then he'll scatter." Hunter answered.

"You could have asked me to come with you." Kendra suggested.

"I didn't want you to get hurt. You already have been because of me." Hunter said with pain in his eyes.

Kendra grabbed his arm. "Listen to me, Hunter Prescott, don't you dare feel guilty about me getting hurt!"

"Yeah, but…" Hunter began before Kendra interrupted him.

"No buts! I mean it Hunter. I get into trouble without you anyway, just ask one of the Rangers or Butch or Kim. I can take care of myself and since I'm going to be around you, you're just going to have to accept the fact that, yeah, I'll be in danger. I got into trouble even before I met you."

"All right. Let's go, but keep behind me, it can get rough in here." Hunter said as he turned and headed to the entrance to the bar. Kendra followed him without making a retort.

* * *

"Has Hunter been back here?" Gage asked when he had returned to Company B's office.

"No. I haven't seen him since he went with Alex to her office. Did you check there?" Sydney asked.

"I already checked her office and she said that he had left fifteen minutes ago. Then I checked his office and the bathroom. I can't find him." Gage said anxiously running a hand through his hair.

"Maybe he went to get a quick bite to eat?" Kim offered looking up from her computer.

Gage shook his head. "He wouldn't have gone without me. I'm supposed to be protecting him. Darn it!"

"Wait a minute. Where's Kendra?" Kim asked as she looked around the room.

"Last I knew she went to the bathroom." Sydney said as she took a drink from her tall coffee that Butch had gotten for her.

"When was that?" Gage asked taking a sip from a cup of coffee that Kim had handed to him.

"Just before Walker gave us our assignments." Sydney replied as she grabbed a chip.

"My guess is they both have gone and gotten themselves into trouble." Butch said.

"Those two are perfect for each other, they're both troublemakers!" Gage exclaimed.

"Should we go looking for them?" Sydney asked looking at Walker.

Walker shook his head. "We need to concentrate on finding Trent and Carlos. Besides, they can keep an eye on each other."

"They could have gone to meet each other at a secret rendezvous." Kim said with a smile.

"Right." Gage said with obvious sarcasm, while Sydney grinned at the idea.

* * *

Hunter and Kendra walked to the left side of the bar where four pool tables were lined up. "Hey, Andy." Hunter greeted a tall, dark haired man who was waiting his turn to shoot.

"Hey, Hunter! How have you been doing, man?" Andy greeted as he slapped Hunters outstretched palm and then hit him on the shoulder. "Who's the girl?" Andy indicated Kendra by jutting out his chin in her direction.

"That's Kendra. Not too bad." Hunter replied, but Andy noticed Hunter's tone

"Let's go into the back room and talk." He leaned his cue stick against the wall. "You can stay out here, honey, you'll be all right." Andy gave Kendra a kind smile and then led Hunter into a back room.

Andy shut the door and indicated that Hunter should take a seat, which he did and then Andy took the chair across from him and waited for Hunter to speak.

"Someone took a shot at me the other day and that shot hit Kendra, thankfully it only grazed her, but still, she could have been killed." Hunter said running a hand through his hair. "I was wondering if you had heard anything."

Andy sighed, leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin. "Hmm."

"Hmm? That's all you got?" Hunter asked impatiently.

Andy raised his hands in defensive. "Hey, chill man. I know your girl got hurt but you gotta give me a few minutes to think."

Hunter sighed again. "I'm sorry, Andy. It's been rough. Especially since a couple of Kendra's friends have disappeared."

"Those two gumshoes?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, do you know anything?" Hunter asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

Andy shook his head. "All I heard was they were missing. Now, back to you, my man. I heard about what Diego did to you in court and that he wanted retribution, but I don't know if anyone placed a hit out on you."

Hunter sighed. "All right. Will you let me…" Hunter began before he was interrupted by a loud scream followed by a thud from the bar.

"Kendra." Hunter exclaimed as he stood up, opened the door, and ran out into the bar, with Andy right behind him. He stopped and observed the scene before him. Kendra was sitting on the back of a man who was spread-eagled out on the floor who was about the size of a compact car. He was groaning and begging 'the lady' to let him up.

"Now, do you promise to treat all women with dignity and respect?" Kendra asked the man in a sweet, but firm voice.

"Yes, I promise." The man said with true sincerity.

Kendra stood up and helped the man to his feet. "Excellent, I'm glad you have learned from this experience. Have a nice day." The man muttered the same farewell and went to the other side of the bar.

"Hi guys, are you finished your 'men talk' yet?" Kendra asked as she turned to face Hunter and Andy while she brushed dirt off her hands on her jeans.

"Uh, yeah, we're done." Hunter replied still astounded at what he had witnessed.

"That was Bare Knuckles. You sat on Bare Knuckles?" Andy asked with astonishment.

"Yes because he had commented on my physical appearance in a not so flattering way, so I decided that he needed to be taught a lesson." She glanced over to where Bare Knuckles sat and finished her thought. "I think he's learned that lesson." Her gaze returned and landed on Hunter. "Oh yeah, did you ask Andy about Trent and Carlos?"

"Uh. Yeah. All he heard was that they disappeared." Hunter answered his eyes still wide in shock.

"Did you mention the names Julian Miller, Toby Blade, Kenny Blade a.k.a. Kenny Slade?"

"Did you say Toby Blade? He owns a warehouse a few miles from here." Andy said.

"Really?" Kendra said as she stepped closer to Andy.

"Yeah. There have been a lot of trucks going there. It's unusual because he has been in jail for a long time, but since you mentioned his younger brother, maybe he's the one that's using the place." Andy explained.

"How do you get to the warehouse?" Kendra asked.

"You head down the road about two miles and then you turn left and head down that road about six hundred feet before you come to a road that has a gate." Andy said motioning the directions with his hands.

"Thanks, Andy. It was a pleasure to meet you. Come on, Hunter, we got to get going." Kendra said quickly as she grabbed Hunter's arm and dragged him toward the door.

"Later, Andy." Hunter replied before Kendra had pulled him out of the bar.

"Good luck, man." Andy said to himself. He didn't mean luck about finding out who had tried to kill him, but having some luck with Kendra.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope to get the next chapter up soon. I'm not sure how often I'll be updating; it may be a few days to a week. I hope you all have been enjoying my story so far and will wait for the updates. Reviews are always welcome.


	11. Chapter 11: Checking Stuff Out

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

guardianM3: I guess my updates are coming quicker than I thought. Sometimes, the words just come and you have to write it down. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. As I was rereading the previous chapters, I discovered that I gave Miller the first name George in chapter 1 and I called him Julian in the later chapters. I apologize for any confusion and I'll repost chapter 1 with the name Julian. I have also edited chapters one thru five, fixing some grammar mistakes or whatever (at least the mistakes I noticed anyway).

* * *

Chapter 11: Checking Stuff Out

Kim knocked on the open door to Walker's office. Walker looked up from the paper he had been reading. "Yes, Kim?"

"We are still searching for warehouses under those names, but Trent and Carlos did follow Slade and his fellow thieves to a warehouse to a town just outside of Dallas. I wasn't able to find out who owned the warehouse." Kim sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I guess I've been forgetting a lot of things."

Walker saw the dark circles under Kim's eyes from a combination of weariness and worry. He gave her a kind smile. "It's alright, Kim. We are all worried about Trent and Carlos but don't blame yourself for being forgetful. You've been working vigorously to find information that would lead us to them."

Kim gave Walker a smile. "Thanks, Walker."

"What's the address?" Walker asked Kim and she told him. Walker motioned for Kim to go back into the general office and followed her. "All right, Sydney, Gage and I are going to check out a warehouse outside of Dallas. Trivette and Kim, you two can continue searching. We'll be back soon." Walker said as he headed out the door, with Gage and Sydney right behind him.

Since it was uncomfortable for three grown people to sit in the front seat of Walker's truck, Sydney and Gage took Gage's car, while of course, Walker drove his truck. They drove with their sirens on and since both vehicles were going well over the speed limit, they made it to the warehouse in record time.

They drew their weapons as they headed stealthy to the warehouse. Walker kicked open the door and ran in, followed by Gage and Sydney. The place was dark so Walker flipped on the switch. The warehouse was empty.

Walker holstered his weapon as did Sydney and Gage. "They cleaned the place out." Gage said as he noted the marks of a forklift in the dust with the toe of his boot.

"Yeah, it makes sense that this place would be deserted. Miller told Slade that the boys had followed him so he decided to clear out." Sydney said as she scanned the large, open room.

"Now, what do we do?" Gage asked.

"Search for clues." Walker said simply as he walked toward a door that lead to a tiny office. Sydney and Gage headed in opposite directions and began to search the large room.

* * *

After Kendra had dragged Hunter out of the Rage Roadhouse, he had dug in his heels that forced her to stop.

"What is it Hunter? We have to go check that warehouse out!" Kendra exclaimed, releasing his arm and took a step toward her car.

Hunter grabbed her arm. "Hold on, Kendra. It is way too dangerous, especially at this time of night." He said as he indicated that the sun had already gone down and the stars and moon providing the only light. "I think we have to talk about what happened in there."

Kendra spun around and looked Hunter straight in the eye. "We can discuss that later, now we have to go see if Trent and Carlos are in that warehouse."

"Kendra…" Hunter began.

"Look, I don't want to call Walker and the gang out here for nothing. We can just go and take a quick look. Besides, the Rangers need a warrant before they can go barging in, unless, of course, they have a reasonable cause." Kendra said.

Hunter muttered something underneath his breath that was inaudible to Kendra. "Ok, we can go check things out and if we do find them, we are going to call the Rangers and wait for them to arrive." Hunter said firmly.

"Right." Kendra replied, a little too quickly for Hunter's taste. "We'll take my car."

Hunter threw his hands up in the air and then headed to Kendra's car and got in. As he was putting on his seatbelt, she started the car and spun out of the dirt parking lot. She followed Andy's directions and she soon drove past the blocked road.

"Where are you going?" Hunter asked glancing over his shoulder. "You missed the road."

"We can't just go up that road, they'll spot us. I was going to park down here and then we'll take a quick hike over there." Kendra explained, as she pressed the gas pedal down even further.

"Are you normally this…hasty?" Hunter asked.

"Only when my friends are in trouble." Kendra replied as she turned sharply on a curve.

"Yeah, that's a good reason." Hunter said as he grabbed hold of the door handle.

Kendra had hidden her car behind some shrubs about half a mile away from the road that lead to the warehouse. Kendra grabbed a black duffel bag from the trunk of her car and they headed off to the warehouse.

They had found a spot about one hundred feet from the warehouse. A bright floodlight helped illuminate the front and one side of the warehouse. "That's Carlos' Dodge Durango." Kendra said as she pointed to a vehicle that was parked next to the warehouse and was barely visible.

"How can you be so sure that is Carlos's Durango? It's parked beneath some trees, its dark out and…" Before Hunter could continue, Kendra handed him some night vision goggles.

"See, I'm right, that is his license plate." Kendra said as she pointed once again toward the Durango.

Hunter coughed as he studied the goggles in his hands. "Okay. You keep night vision goggles in a bag in your car. Are you a spy or something?" He asked somewhat jokingly as he returned the goggles to her hands without even bothering to use them.

"No, but I always like to be prepared. Can I borrow your cell phone?"

"Yeah," Hunter replied as he handed his cell phone to her. "You have night vision goggles, but not a cell phone?"

Kendra didn't respond as she punched in Kim's cell phone number. "Hey, Kim we found Trent and Carlos." She said into the cell phone.

"Wha….are….where….." Those were the only words that Kendra could hear from Kim due to the static.

"We think we found the boys so track Hunter's cell phone." Kendra said slowly before the cell phone lost all reception. "I hate cell phones." Kendra muttered as she slammed the cell phone closed and tossed it to Hunter.

Hunter pocketed his cell phone. "Now what do you want to do? I mean, all we know is that is Carlos' Dodge Durango, but how can we be sure that they are there?" He asked looking at the old warehouse.

"We go and see." Kendra replied and took a few steps before Hunter firmly grabbed her arm.

"Kendra! Are you crazy? Even if they are there, the people who are holding them are most likely going to have weapons and we are most likely outnumbered." Hunter pointed out.

"Do you say 'most likely' a lot?" Kendra asked.

Hunter sighed in frustration.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about Carlos and Trent." Kendra said the worry reflecting in her eyes.

Hunter sighed and he released her arm. "Yeah, I know, but you just can't rush in there when you don't know what you're going to find."

"Yeah, I see your point. We'll head back to Rage Roadhouse and call Walker from there since I'm not even certain if Kim even heard me at all."

"All right. Let's go." Hunter said as he turned around and looked into a pair of brown eyes that belonged to a man who looked as though he was a professional wrestler. "Uh, hello."

Kendra spun around to see four men and with the light from the stars, she saw that they each had a gun.

* * *

After fifteen minutes, Walker, Sydney and Gage had returned outside to their vehicles after their search revealed one thing and that was the thieves were very good at covering their tracks. Gage kicked at the gravel as Walker's cell phone rang.

"Hey, Walker. Kendra called me." Kim said once Walker had answered his cell phone.

"What did she have to say?" Walker asked.

"I could barely understand what she said at all and since I was unable to track were she had called from, I tracked Hunter's car to a place called 'Rage Roadhouse."

"All right, thanks Kim. I know where that is and tell Trivette to meet us there." Walker closed his cell phone and looked at the two eager Rangers. "Let's go."

Walker drove his truck while the two younger Rangers were in Gage's car, attempting to keep up with the speeding truck. They reached Rage Roadhouse where Trivette was leaning against his car that was parked next to Hunter's car.

"Hey. Kim called and told me that a hit finally came through. There is a warehouse owned by Toby Blade a few miles from here." Trivette said once his fellow Rangers had come up to him.

"All right. We'll head there." Walker said as he headed back to his truck. Trivette got into Walker's truck as Sydney and Gage returned to their car. The Rangers sped down the road, all of them silently praying that they weren't too late.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This time, Kim's forgetfulness was my own. As I was rereading the previous chapters, I discovered that I had forgotten that the Thunder boys had followed the thieves to a warehouse outside of Dallas. I'll try not to let it happen again. Please review.


	12. Chapter 12: Missing No More

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 12: Missing No More

"You wouldn't believe how often this happens to me." Kendra commented to Hunter as the men lead them into the warehouse. "And it always seems that it includes a warehouse."

"Shut up!" One of the men yelled as he pushed her enough to cause her to stumble but she was able to keep herself from falling on her face.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Hunter shouted but he just got punched in the gut for his efforts. Hunter was doubled over clutching his stomach but the man behind him just pushed him forward toward Slade.

"My, my look what we have here." Slade said once his men had brought Kendra and Hunter to stand before him.

"Well, well, look what we have here, slime ball number one and slime ball number two." Kendra mocked as she glared at Slade and then at Miller who was standing next to him.

"You are a troublesome girl." Miller remarked as he stepped up and punched her.

One of the men that had brought Kendra and Hunter into the warehouse grabbed Kendra before she had a chance to leap at Miller and the one that looked like a wrestler grabbed Hunter because he was about to do the same thing. Lip split and bleeding, Kendra glowered darkly at the man standing before her, struggling to break free from the man who held tightly onto her.

"Let's allow them to see their friends one more time before they all die." Slade said with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Slade lead the way as Kendra and Hunter roughly forced to walk down about five rows of stolen electronics that were stacked about twelve feet about their heads. Then they turned right and after that row, they made another right. They stopped when the entered an open area but were still surrounded by electronic equipment piled about fifteen feet high wrapped in plastic.

"Trent! Carlos!" Kendra screamed once she had spotted them. They were each tied to their own chair but they had their backs to each other. Kendra could see that their bonds were too tight because she saw the blood coming from their wrists. Their faces were bruised and bloody and their clothes were torn from the scuffle they had been in and when they had been beaten. Their heads were slumped down onto their chests. Kendra obviously couldn't see what damage had been done beneath their clothing but she tried hard not to picture the broken bones and bruises.

Slade turned around and smiled cruelly at Kendra. "Oh I assure you, they are still alive. At least, the last time I checked they were still breathing as best as they could, anyway."

"I suggest you release my friends before I have to resort to kicking all of your butts and ripping that smirk off your face." Kendra said coolly but her blue eyes were ablaze.

Slade laughed. "Right and how exactly do you plan on doing that sweetheart? You and your friend have already been caught and you don't even have a weapon." He said as he pulled out a gun from underneath his tan jacket and pointed it at Kendra. He then pivoted on his foot, swung the gun around, and aimed it at Trent and Carlos.

Suddenly, a crash was heard coming from the direction of the entrance of the warehouse.

"Slade, the Rangers are here!" A man shouted from where the crash had occurred.

"Right on time," Kendra said, as she freed herself from the man who was holding her by kicking him in his privates.

Slade growled and just as he was about to pull the trigger, Kendra grabbed his arm and bent it and the gun away from Trent and Carlos. A loud snap was heard followed by a scream of pain and a thud as the gun fell from his hand and onto the floor. "I told you to release my friends." Kendra's eyes gleamed angrily as she knocked him out cold with her other arm in one punch.

While Kendra had been preventing Slade from killing her friends, Hunter had elbowed his captor in the nose and then spun around to face the large man. He threw about half a dozen punches to the man's face, receiving a couple of his own but had been able to remain on his feet. The man fell to the ground when Hunter's seventh punch clipped the man on the chin. Then Hunter chased after Miller who had decided to make a run for it.

* * *

Walker jumped out of his truck, the cause of the crashing noise, and punched a man that had come running up to him with his fists in the air. Trivette had jumped out of the truck a second after Walker and was already fighting a man who looked and smelled as though he hadn't had a bath in a long time.

Gage drove his car into the hole that Walker had made, parked next to the truck and he and Sydney jumped out and chased after some men that took off into the maze of electronics.

Gage and Sydney split up as they each followed one man.

The man Gage was chasing after, stopped and turned to face him. The man was a couple of inches shorter than the Ranger was but the thug's biceps were the size of honeydew melons.

"Why do I always get the guys that have spent way too much time in the weight lifting room?" Gage commented as he dodged a fist that was aimed at his head.

Gage kicked at the man but he instead hit the crate that had several small screen televisions piled on top of it and since it had not been placed correctily it was titled just right and it all came crashing down onto his adversary. "That has to hurt." Gage commented as he bent down to make sure the man was still alive. Satisfied that the man would live, with some bruises and a horrible headache, he took off to find his partner.

* * *

Walker flipped a man over his shoulder and then kicked another in the head. A red-haired man that was standing about twenty feet from Walker decided that he wasn't going to try and fight Walker and he headed into the rows.

"Are you going to go after him?" Walker asked Trivette and then threw a couple of punches as the first man who had tried to attack him but this time he came at the Ranger with a two-by-four.

"Why do I always have to chase them?" Trivette asked and Walker gave him a look right before he delivered a roundhouse kick to the armed attacker.

"Right. Never mind." Trivette grumbled as he took off after the man.

"You'll all under arrest." Walker said to the unconscious men as he handcuffed them together.

One of the men that had run into the rows returned to the entrance. Once he had seen Walker and his three unconscious comrades, he threw his hands up into the air. "I give up."

"Good idea." Walker said as he walked over and slapped handcuffs on the man.

* * *

Hunter tackled Miller who had made it about two rows from the clearing. Miller flipped Hunter off of him and threw a punch that hit Hunter squarely on the jaw, causing Hunter's head to snap back. Miller scurried away from Hunter and stood up. Miller threw another punch and hit Hunter on his right cheek.

"Ah. You and your little girlfriend are going to pay." Miller spat out as he went to throw another punch.

Hunter dodged Miller's fist and threw a punch of his own and hit Miller in his right eye. "I doubt it."

Miller grabbed his eye and then he lunged at Hunter. Hunter jumped to the side and Miller fell onto the hard concrete. Miller screamed in rage, stood up and ran at Hunter again.

Hunter hit him on the jaw that caused Miller to turn abruptly as he slammed into one of the rows. Miller fell to the ground.

Hunter checked to see if the man was still alive. "He'll live, but he's going to have one bad headache when he wakes up." Then Hunter took off and headed back to the clearing.

* * *

The man that Sydney had been chasing had gotten away from her, but another man had popped out from one of the rows in front of her.

"Ah look, it's a pretty little lady Ranger." The dark haired man who needed a haircut and a shave said as he stepped closer to Sydney.

"I hate being called little lady." Sydney replied anger flashing in her dark eyes as she did a roundhouse kick.

Gage heard the sounds of punches landing and quickly went around the corner. He stopped when he saw Sydney fighting a man almost twice her size. He leaned against the row to watch as she threw several punches and expertly dodged the few that had come her way. Then she did a roundhouse kick that hit the man in the gut. The man fell onto the ground, clutching his stomach.

Gage walked over and bent down to look in the man's eyes. "You called her little, didn't you?"

The man looked as though he wanted to cry. Gage shook his head in pity and disgust as he stood up.

"Not bad, Syd." Gage commented as he walked over to her.

"Thanks, Gage. You just decided not to help me?" Sydney said as she turned and headed into the rows.

"What?" Gage exclaimed as he ran after her.

* * *

Kendra kicked the gun away from Slade's unconscious body, just in case, and then stood protectively over Carlos and Trent. Hunter returned and ran over to Kendra as she indicated that he should check Carlos. She kneeled down, grabbed a knife from Slade's belt, and then went to cut Trent's bonds. She handed the knife to Hunter, who cut Carlos' bonds.

"Hey, Thunder Boy, can you hear me?" Kendra asked as she gently held Trent's face in her hands. Kendra's worried frown became a determined line. "You're going to be all right," Kendra said firmly. "How is he doing?" Kendra asked Hunter, indicating the unconscious Carlos.

"He's alive but he needs a doctor." He replied as he finished removing the ropes.

"The ambulance is on the way," said Trivette as he came into the small clearing with his cell phone in hand.

"Good. Miller is knocked out over there." Hunter said as he pointed to his left.

Trivette nodded his head, punched in a number on his cell and called Walker to let his partner know that Trent and Carlos had been found.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope that you'll have enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to all of the readers who reviewed.


	13. Chapter 13: St Matthews Hospital

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 13: St. Matthews Hospital

Walker and Trivette were at St. Matthews Hospital standing in one of the waiting rooms when Kim and Butch came running over to them. "How are they?" Kim asked breathlessly.

"They've been beaten, but they are alive. The doctor is checking them out now." Trivette answered and motioned for Kim to take a seat, which she did.

"How long is it going to be?" Butch asked anxiously.

"We don't know." Walker said as he shook his head. "The doctors are checking the boys out thoroughly, so it's going to take some time."

Butch nodded his head and sat down next to Kim. "Those boys will be all right. They're fighters." Butch said firmly.

Hunter and Kendra came into the waiting room. Hunter had taken the stubborn Kendra to get her lip stitched up.

"That looks like it hurts. You all right?" Butch asked once he saw the lip and its four stitches.

"Oh yeah. Have you heard anything about the guys?" Kendra asked barely moving her lips and looking as though she was practicing to be a ventriloquist. Butch just shook his head.

"Well, her lip probably hurts even more than it did before since Kendra couldn't stop squirming when the doctor was stitching her up." Hunter joked and Kendra glared at him and then she elbowed him playfully in the stomach.

A woman with blond hair in her late forties to early fifties stepped out of the elevator, saw some familiar faces and walked over to the group. "Walker, how is Trent? How is Carlos?" She asked as she stood before him.

"We haven't heard from the doctor yet, but they are going to be just fine, Katie." Walker said reassuringly as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Katie nodded her head and looked at Kendra and Hunter.

"I'm Hunter Prescott." He said as she held out her hand, which Katie accepted and they shook hands. "This is Kendra Stone." He introduced as he removed his hand and waved it toward Kendra.

"I'm Katie Malloy. It's a pleasure to meet you both." Katie said as she shook Kendra's hand.

"Same here." Kendra replied without moving her lips.

A red-haired woman in her early mid–to-late thirties and wearing a white lab coat walked up to the group. "Hello, I am Dr. Hazel O'Connell. Are you relatives of Trent Malloy or Carlos Sandoval?"

"Both." Kendra replied as Dr. O'Connell observed her stitched up lip.

"I see. All right. They each have a couple of broken ribs, many bruises and cuts. Carlos has a minor infection, but we have already started the antibiotics for it and it appears to already be working. They are also a little dehydrated, but we have them on an IV for that. Basically, they are going to be just fine."

"Are either of them awake yet?" Katie asked.

Dr. O'Connell shook her head. "They haven't woken up yet and they have been given pain medication that tends to make them sleep. Don't worry. Mr. Malloy and Mr. Sandoval should wake up in a few hours." Dr. O'Connell looked at her watch. "Do any of you have any more questions?" Everyone either shook their head or said no. Dr. O'Connell told them that she would be back later and she left.

"Well, I'm going to sit right here and wait for them to wake up." Katie said firmly and sat down.

"Kendra and I can get you guys some coffee and something to eat." Hunter offered and once he got their orders, he and Kendra headed off.

* * *

Trent groaned as he opened his eyes. He was blinded by a light above him for just a moment. He realized he wasn't in the warehouse, but was in a hospital bed. As he looked around, he saw that Carlos was in the other hospital bed in the room and was still asleep. Also, in the room were three vases of flowers, several cards and there was a basket in between the two beds. Trent sat up with some difficulty, that he figured was some fractured or broken, and on closer inspection, he saw what was in the basket and smiled.

"Well, look who is awake." A dark-haired nurse with a narrow face said as she walked into the room.

"Hello." Trent said in greeting.

"Hello, yourself. You and your friend over there have a large group of people waiting for you guys to wake up." The nurse said as she checked the monitors.

"Hey." Carlos said groggily as his eyes opened. "Trent? You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. We are in the hospital." Trent said watching as Carlos scanned the room.

"You are in St. Matthews Hospital." The nurse clarified. "Now I'll go tell Dr. O'Connell that both of you are awake." When the nurse left, Carlos tried to sit up but ended up wincing in pain.

"You all right?" Trent asked with concern for his friend.

"Yeah. I'm okay. How about you?" Carlos said shifting around so he could look at Trent.

"I'm fine." Trent replied and pointed at the basket. "Kendra's been here."

Before Carlos could ask what was in the basket a woman wearing a lab coat walked into the room.

"Hello, I'm Dr. O'Connell. Nurse Smith told me that you two were awake. I'll examine you both and then I'll let your family and friends come in, okay?"

Dr. O'Connell examined the two men and then she told them about their injuries. Once she had left, Katie came into the room and hugged Trent gently so as not to cause him any pain.

"Are you all right, honey?" Katie asked holding her son's chin in her hand and studied the bruises and cuts on his face.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine." Trent replied and Katie nodded her head.

"Carlos, are you all right." Katie asked as she went to check on him.

"Yes, Mrs. Malloy, I'm all right." Carlos answered still a little groggy.

"You can call me Katie." Katie reminded him as she adjusted his pillows.

"Hey, you boys finally decided to wake up." Butch said as he, Kim, Walker, and Trivette walked into the room.

"Hey." Trent and Carlos said in unison.

"How are you guys feeling?" Kim asked as she went to stand in between the two of them.

"We're fine, Kim." Trent answered and gave her a reassuring smile.

"We were worried about you two." Walked said taking off his cowboy hat and held it in his hands.

"Hey. You guys shouldn't have worried about us. We've both been in some tough situations before." Carlos said as he sat up a little straighter.

"Yeah, I can believe that, but I think this time is the winner." Kendra remarked as she entered the room carrying a vase of flowers. She found a spot for the vase and looked at the boys. "Those are from the Jones family."

Trent's eyes narrowed as he zoned in on Kendra's lip. "Kendra, what happened to your lip?"

"I'll tell you after you guys fill us in." Kendra said as took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Carlos and I went to speak with Miller. We showed him the pictures that we had taken from our stakeouts. Once we were done with Miller, we decided to follow him since we believed he was in league with the thieves because of what Kim had found out."

"We followed Miller to the warehouse that we had followed the thieves to." Carlos continued where Trent had left off. "We got jumped by four guys and we were doing all right, until some other guys came with rifles."

"They knocked us out and when we woke up, we were in a warehouse and tied up." Trent said his voice calm but his eyes revealed what he was feeling.

"The guy calling the shots told us that we were going to be punished. I asked what we were being punished for but didn't answer." Carlos said angrily and everyone knew without being told what the man had done to Carlos for asking.

"Kim and I found out that with the pictures you guys had taken, that the man's name is Kenny Slade but later on we discovered his name was really Kenny Blade. You put his older brother Toby Blade in jail." Trivette informed them.

"Yeah, I remember him." Trent said as he recalled the man.

"Then we woke up here." Carlos finished, not having to mention to their friends about the beatings that he and Trent had endured.

Then Kendra began to fill them in about what had occurred since the boys had been missing. Kendra had tried not to mention the fact that she had been shot, but Butch had brought it up. Kendra told them about her and Butch visiting Miller and that Hunter and Gage had heard about them missing and had called in Walker and Trivette, not knowing that they knew the two PIs.

Then Kim and Jimmy told them what they and Sydney had discovered. Then, Kendra told them what Hunter's friend at the Rage Roadhouse had said about a warehouse that Blade had owned and that they had discovered Carlos' Durango. Before they could head back to the Rage Roadhouse, they had been discovered. Kendra told them how she got her split lip and Walker filled them in with the rest of it.

"Thank you all for saving our skins." Carlos said.

"No thanks needed. You both would have done the same for any of us." Butch said.

"Well, we should leave you two to get some rest." Katie said as she rose and began ushering the other visitors toward the door.

"Hey, thank you all for the flowers, cards, and thanks Kendra for the basket." Trent said with a grin.

"No problem. It'll keep you both busy." Kendra said as she returned his grin or at least tried to because grinning made her stitches stretch which caused some discomfort.

Once everyone had said his or her goodbyes, Carlos looked in the basket. "She got us comic books?"

"Yup." Trent replied as he carefully leaned over and pulled one out.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There is still one more chapter to go.


	14. Chapter 14: Welcome Home

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 14: Welcome Home

About a week and a half later, after the boys had been rescued, Hunter was sitting on a park bench drinking a large cup of coffee and reading the sports section of the newspaper. Suddenly, a bullet hit him the chest. Hunter's body landed on its left side but remained on the bench. His eyes were closed and it looked as though he was only sleeping. The cup had slipped from his hand and its contents had ended up on the neatly manicured grass.

One Shot was across the street from the little park and was standing on top of an abandoned building that was going to be renovated to make fourteen apartments. One Shot smiled in satisfaction at his skill and began to take apart his sniper.

"Freeze! Texas Rangers!" A man's voice commanded from behind One Shot.

One Shot swore underneath his breath, dropped the pieces of the sniper onto the ground and raised his hands into the air. He slowly turned around to see the one who had spoken. He saw a man, with sandy colored hair and a short, dark-haired woman who had her gun aimed at his heart.

"You're under arrest, for the attempted murder of Hunter Prescott." Gage said firmly as he stepped forward, grabbed One Shot's arms and bent the arms back to put the handcuffs on.

"Attempted murder? The man is dead!" One Shot shouted triumphantly.

"No, he isn't." Sydney said as Gage began giving One Shot his Miranda Rights.

"Gage and Sydney caught him." Trivette said as he closed his cell phone

"Good, let's go tell Hunter he doesn't have to lie there anymore." Walker said as he began to walk toward the park.

"Yeah, thank goodness we can get away from here because this dumpster smells as though it was hooked up to a sewer line!" Trivette commented as he followed his partner.

"Ok, Hunter, Sydney and Gage have One Shot." Walker said once he reached the 'dead body'.

Hunter straightened and then stood up. "Good. I'm really glad that Andy found out that it was One Shot who was trying to kill me, because if he had shot at my head instead of my heart than I wouldn't be standing here right now." Hunter took off his coat revealing the bulletproof vest beneath that had prevented the bullet from going into Hunter's heart.

. "I'm glad that this is over." Trivette commented as he took the bulletproof vest and the bullet that Hunter had handed to him.

"It's not over yet." Hunter replied his green eyes shining in determination.

* * *

Hunter entered the visitors' room of the prison and sat down in the same chair he had before. He waited patiently for the guard to bring Diego in.

"My, my, look whose here, the amazing Houdini!" Diego shouted and slapped the table with his right hand once he had sat down.

"One Shot has been arrested, Diego." Hunter leaned forward and stared into Diego's eyes. "I think you've learned that you are not getting out of jail and I'm not backing down."

"Really, there was a lesson here somewhere?" Diego said smugly.

"Yeah, there was and you had better not even think about calling any more hits, Diego." Hunter warned, his dark eyes blazing as though the sun's rays were hitting an emerald.

"First of all, I didn't call a hit out on you." Diego said with a smile. "Why would I have another one put out on you?"

"Well, one good reason is Bobby Hollow. Do you remember Bobby Hollow? I see by that look of fear in your eyes that you do. He just might get transferred here and if he does, he might become your new roommate." Hunter said casually as though he were talking about football or about some changes on a restaurant menu.

Diego coughed to clear his throat, but the fear didn't leave his eyes. "All right, counselor, you win."

Hunter stood up, walked up to the door, and knocked on it twice. When the door was opened by the guard, Hunter turned to face Diego. "That's what I like to hear."

* * *

At the time that Hunter was speaking with Diego, the Malloy house was busy being set up for Trent and Carlos' homecoming.

Katie had Tyler and Tandy placing the streamers around the backyard with Tommy helping them. Butch was forming the hamburgers and getting the grill ready to go. Trivette and his fiancé Erika were setting up the welcome home banner that the kids had made earlier. Gage and Sydney was blowing up the balloons, in which Sydney had commented that it was a perfect job for Gage, since he tended to blow a lot of hot air. Kendra and Kim were setting up the picnic tables. Katie and Alex were chatting and cutting up the strawberries for the strawberry short cake and with Alex keeping an eye on the sleeping Angela.

Walker arrived with Trent and Carlos, he was driving Alex's car because it was easier for the two injured men to get in and out of than Walker's truck. Walker brought the two men around the house and into the back yard.

"We're here." Walker yelled to get the group's attention. Everyone came running over to greet them.

"Where's Hunter?" Walker asked Kendra as the others brought Trent and Carlos over to the picnic tables.

"He'll be here. He told me that he had to finish something." Kendra replied and Walker just nodded.

Hunter arrived about ten minutes later while Butch was grilling the burgers and hotdogs.

"Hey, Butch, it's time to flip those burgers." Jimmy said as he strolled over to the barbeque.

"It's not time to flip the burgers. They'll fall apart." Butch replied

"If you don't flip them now, they won't be juicy." Jimmy explained pointing at the burgers.

"All right, Jimmy, then why don't you flip the hamburgers?" Butch said as he held out the spatula to the Ranger.

"Alright." Jimmy said as he took the spatula from Butch and slid it beneath one of the burgers. He flipped the burger and it fall apart.

Jimmy coughed. "Ah. Here you go." He said as he handed the spatula back to Butch.

"Uh huh." Butch remarked as he proceeded to repair the damage done to the poor burger.

Butch finished grilling and brought the burgers and hot dogs to the already set picnic table and everyone began to dig in, after saying grace of course.

"Who made the potato salad?" Trent asked. "It's really good."

"Kendra made the potato salad." Katie replied, as she poured some more iced tea into his glass.

"Kendra can cook?" Carlos asked pretending to be bewildered.

"Yeah I can. Remember those cookies I made." Kendra said.

"Oh you made those? I thought you just bought them." Carlos replied with his eyes twinkling.

"Besides, potato salad isn't that hard to make. All you really need to know how to do is boil water. Can you boil water, Carlos?" Kendra asked with a smile.

"Yes, Kendra, I can boil water." Carlos replied.

"Good. I think you should make Trent and yourself some hot tea. Tea is good for you." Kendra replied with a grin. "You can drink the tea with cookies I made for you and Trent.

"Ok. Where's the teapot?" Carlos asked Katie and everyone just laughed.

* * *

guardianM3: That was the last chapter of Volume 2 everyone! I try to amuse, but sometimes I end up only amusing myself. The scene between Jimmy and Butch is a tribute to CD Parker and I hope that there wasn't a scene about the same thing between Jimmy and CD and if there is, sorry about that. Well, I finally decided what time my story is taking place. It is taking place about a year after Angela was born, so that means that it is 2002. That means it is before the TV movie "Trial by Fire" that aired in 2005. Plus if I made it 2007, Angela would be about five or six and six years seems too long since Trent and Carlos have seen Walker and Trivette. I don't know how long it's going to take me to start posting volume 3 titled "Kendra Stone Volume 3: Reunion", so just keep an eye out for it. I hope you all enjoyed this volume and will continue to read the many volumes to come.


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